Sri Lanka: Groups Decline to Testify Before Flawed Commission

(New York October 14, 2010) - Three leading international organizations will not accept an invitation to testify before a Sri Lankan government commission because it lacks the ability to advance accountability for war crimes, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, and Amnesty International said in a joint letter to Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission that was released today.

The three organizations said that they would welcome an opportunity to appear before a genuine, credible effort to pursue political reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka, but that the Commission does not meet minimum international standards for commissions of inquiry.

"There is little to be gained by appearing before such a fundamentally flawed commission," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "Accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka demands an independent international investigation." http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/10/13/sri-lanka-groups-decline-testify-flawed-commission