ransitional justice processes are nothing like ‘witch hunts’ and they do not involve massive purges, and do not trade on charges of collective responsibility or guilt by association, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence said.
Mr. Pablo de Greiff made these observations at a press briefing held in Colombo yesterday (2310), on the conclusion of his 14-day official country visit to Sri Lanka.
He also noted with concern the use of rhetoric such as ‘war heroes will never be brought to trial.’
He stated that this seems to him to misrepresent the target of transitional justice accountability measures by suggesting that it is a generally anti-security agenda, and also by forgetting that no one who has committed violations of human rights law or of the laws of war deserves to be called a hero.
The Special Rapporteur added that the promise mentioned above regarding ‘war heroes’ is a legally unenforceable political statement, and therefore cannot offer any real security.
“In order to make it effective it would ultimately require a violation of the principle of the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary, amongst others.”
“Moreover, needless to say, it offers absolutely no warranty internationally.
