Member of Victoria State Parliament Telmo Languiller (Dernmut) has said that an external investigation without the support of the government of Sri Lanka wouldn’t be supportive of the post-war national reconciliation process.
The following is the full text of statement made by Languiller in Victoria parliament: “I wish to place on record my considered point of view in relation to the United Nations recent resolution on Sri Lanka and its call for an independent investigation into alleged human rights violations in that country it is my strong point of view that Sri Lanka has come a considerable way in its efforts towards reconciliation of all its peoples and that its internal structures and legal mechanisms including its very strong judiciary should be allowed to work through the complex process of addressing human rights issues there. I therefore do not believe that an independent inquiry without the support of the Sri Lankan government is an appropriate way of dealing with the challenges in that country. Sri Lanka can and should be encouraged to continue to implement the report of the Commission of Inquiry of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation of November 2011.
I pay tribute to the Sri Lankan people for their extraordinary efforts in defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam terrorist organization. It is an established principle of international law that parties seeking remedy for a perceived grievance must exhaust all possible avenues within the domestic jurisdiction prior to seeking redress in the international arena. On that basis Sri Lanka should be given every opportunity to do so.”
