{"id":19,"date":"2017-11-23T23:08:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T17:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tamildiasporanews.com\/?page_id=19"},"modified":"2018-12-04T12:38:53","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T07:08:53","slug":"map","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/?page_id=19","title":{"rendered":"MAP"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/h1>\r\n

Sri Lanka – Expert Panel Nominated to Monitor Transitional Justice Mechanisms from Victims\u2019 Perspective : TGTE<\/h4>\r\n

Monitoring Panel<\/p>\r\n

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, November 17, 2015 \/EINPresswire.com<\/a>\/ —<\/p>\r\n

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (\u201cTGTE\u201d) has nominated a\u00a0panel of five legal experts to monitor the design and implementation of the\u00a0transitional justice mechanisms in Sri Lanka, including the judicial measures\u00a0to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and\u00a0genocide (\u201cMonitoring Accountability Panel\u201d or \u201cMAP\u201d).\u00a0Following the Report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka, dated 16\u00a0September 2015, and the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on\u00a0\u2018Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka,\u2019\u00a0dated 1 October 2015, the Sri Lankan Government undertook to establish\u00a0accountability mechanisms to address the crimes committed during the Sri\u00a0Lankan armed conflict. These will include a special criminal court with\u00a0foreign judges and prosecutors.\/ —<\/p>\r\n

The MAP will provide independent monitoring, advice, and\u00a0recommendations, focusing on the effectiveness of accountability measures\u00a0from a victims\u2019 perspective. It will also consider issues of fair trial and due\u00a0process for suspects and accused persons. The views and recommendations of\u00a0the Panel will enable victims and other stakeholders to participate more\u00a0effectively in the process and thus enhance the legitimacy of the measures.\u00a0The MAP shall formulate its opinions independently – irrespective of party\u00a0political considerations or the agenda of any specific group (including the\u00a0TGTE) \u2013 according to the interests of fair justice, applying international\u00a0standards and best practices. The initial mandate of the Panel shall run from\u00a0November 2015 to December 2016. Further detail of the Panel\u2019s mandate can\u00a0be found in the attached Terms of Reference.<\/p>\r\n

The Members of the Monitoring Accountability Panel have been selected for\u00a0their legal expertise in international criminal law and human rights, national\u00a0war crimes courts, and regional criminal cases. The Panel Members (in\u00a0alphabetical order) are:<\/p>\r\n

Marie Guiraud (France)\u00a0Peter Haynes QC (UK)<\/p>\r\n

Richard J Rogers (UK)<\/p>\r\n

Heather Ryan (USA)<\/p>\r\n

Justice Ajit Prakash Shah (India)<\/p>\r\n

Geoffrey Robertson QC will act as a consultant to the Panel, providing<\/p>\r\n

additional independent advice.<\/p>\r\n

Monitoring Accountability Panel, Members\u2019 Bios:<\/p>\r\n

Marie Guiraud (France) \u2013 Panel Member:<\/p>\r\n

Marie Guiraud, a French lawyer, has worked on human rights and\u00a0international criminal law for fifteen years. She is currently the Civil Party\u00a0Lead Co-Lawyer for the victims at the UN-assisted Extraordinary Chambers\u00a0in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Representing the interests of nearly 4,000\u00a0victims who participate in Case 002\/02, Marie serves as the co-lead court\r\nadvocate. She has been heavily involved in the design and implementation of\u00a0judicial reparations for victims of crimes under the Khmer Rouge regime.\u00a0Prior to her current role, Marie worked at a major international human rights\u00a0organization and then as a private lawyer in criminal litigation, both before\u00a0French and foreign Courts: In France, she represented both defendants and\u00a0victims in complex and serious criminal cases. Abroad, Marie represented\u00a0victims of international crimes before Ivorian and Congolese Courts and was\u00a0a Civil Party Lawyer in case 002\/01 before the ECCC.<\/p>\r\n

Peter Haynes QC (UK) Panel Member:<\/p>\r\n

Peter Haynes QC is a British barrister with more than 30 years\u2019 experience in\u00a0domestic and international criminal courts. He currently acts as the Lead\u00a0Counsel for Jean Pierre Bemba at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and\u00a0is the Lead Legal Representative of Victims at the Special Tribunal for\u00a0Lebanon (STL). He is one of the very few practitioners who have led cases\r\nbefore the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (where\u00a0he appeared for the defence of General Vinko Pandurevic in relation to the\u00a0Srebrenica massacre), the ICC and the STL. He has appeared in cases\u00a0involving genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and international\u00a0terrorism. He has been responsible for development of the jurisprudence,\r\npractice and procedure of the representation of victims in international \/\u00a0hybrid courts. Peter regularly lectures on the functioning of international\u00a0criminal courts and, in particular, victim representation.<\/p>\r\n

Richard J Rogers (UK) \u2013 Panel Member and Secretary:<\/p>\r\n

Richard Rogers, a USA (California) and UK qualified lawyer, has 20 years\u00a0experience in international criminal law and human rights. He has held senior\u00a0positions in the UN and OSCE: He was the OSCE\u2019s Chief legal system\u00a0monitor in post-conflict Kosovo, the Principal Defender at the UN\u2019s\u00a0Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, and the head of legal\u00a0support for the Appeals Chamber at the UN\u2019s International Criminal Tribunal\u00a0for Yugoslavia.\u00a0Richard is currently assisting several victim groups before the\u00a0International Criminal Court and has worked with national war crimes courts\u00a0in Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and Uganda.\u00a0Richard has recently provided expert testimony before the US Congress\u00a0House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and spoken to human rights issues\u00a0before the European Parliament\u2019s human rights committee and the Bosnian\u00a0Parliament. He is a founding partner of Global Diligence LLP.<\/p>\r\n

Heather Ryan (USA) \u2013 Panel Member:<\/p>\r\n

Heather Ryan, a US lawyer, has been working in the field of international law\u00a0for over 15 years. She is currently a special consultant for the Open Society\u00a0Justice Initiative monitoring the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts in\u00a0Cambodia (ECCC), a hybrid tribunal set up to prosecute senior leaders of the\u00a0Khmer Rouge Regime responsible for mass atrocities form 1975-1979. She has\u00a0been involved since 2005 in evaluating and reporting on the development and\u00a0implementation of the ECCC in terms of compliance with international fair\u00a0trial standards, as well as the court\u2019s effectiveness in meeting its goals with\u00a0respect to the victims and public. Her experience also includes work at the\u00a0Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard\u2019s Kennedy School, Global\u00a0Greengrants Fund, The Coalition for International Justice, teaching\u00a0international criminal law, as well as private law practice.<\/p>\r\n

Justice Ajit Prakash Shah (India) – Panel Member:<\/p>\r\n

Justice Shah, a renowned Indian jurist, has been practicing law as an advocate\u00a0and judge for around 40 years. Following his practice as a lawyer in Bombay,\u00a0Justice Shah was elevated to the bench in 1992, becoming a permanent Judge\u00a0of Bombay High Court in 1994. He was promoted to Chief Justice of the\u00a0Madras High Court in 2005 and Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in 2008. He\u00a0retired from the bench in 2010. Until August 2015, Justice Shah was the\u00a0Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India, a body established by the\u00a0Indian Government to promote legal reform throughout the justice system.\u00a0He was also the Chairperson of the Broadcasting Content Complaints\u00a0Council, a self-regulatory body for non-news TV channels set up by\u00a0the Indian Broadcasting Foundation in consultation with the Ministry of\u00a0Information & Broadcasting.\u00a0Monitoring Accountability Panel, Consultant\u2019s Bio:\u00a0Geoffrey Robertson QC – Consultant:<\/p>\r\n

Geoffrey Robertson QC is founder and joint head of Doughty Street\u00a0Chambers. He has had a distinguished career as a trial and appellate counsel,\u00a0an international judge, and author of leading textbooks. He has argued many\u00a0landmark cases in media, constitutional and criminal law, in the European\u00a0Court of Justice; the European Court of Human Rights; the Supreme Court\u00a0(House of Lords and Privy Council); the UN War Crimes courts; the World\u00a0Bank\u2019s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)\u00a0and in the highest courts of many commonwealth countries.<\/p>\r\n

Geoffrey has, as a jury advocate, appeared in many criminal trials at the Old\u00a0Bailey and libel trials in the High Court. He has appeared in several hundred\u00a0reported cases in the Court of Appeal (both civil and criminal divisions) and\u00a0in judicial reviews in the High Court, and in subsequent appeals. He has a\u00a0large advisory practice, for clients including governments, media\r\ncorporations, NGO\u2019s and local councils.<\/p>\r\n

For media inquiries please contact:<\/p>\r\n

\u2022 Mr. Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister of the Trannational\u00a0Government of Tamil Eelam \u2013 pmo@tgte.org<\/p>\r\n

\u2022 Richard J Rogers, Panel Secretary – richardrogers@globaldiligence.com<\/p>\r\n

MONITORING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE MECHANISMS FOR SRI LANKA\u00a0PANEL OF EXPERTS: TERMS OF REFERENCE<\/p>\r\n

Background and Overview:<\/p>\r\n

1. The Panel of Experts to Monitor Accountability in Sri Lanka (\u201cMonitoring\u00a0Accountability Panel\u201d or \u201cMAP\u201d) has been established at the request of the\u00a0Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (\u201cTGTE\u201d) to provide independent\u00a0monitoring, advice, and recommendations on the transitional justice\u00a0mechanisms in Sri Lanka, following the end of the civil war in 2009.<\/p>\r\n

2. The overall mandate of the MAP is to monitor, advise and report on the design\u00a0and implementation of the judicial and non-judicial measures for transitional\u00a0justice established by the Sri Lankan Government pursuant to the Report of the<\/p>\r\n

OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (\u201cOISL Report\u201d), dated 16 September 2015,\u00a0and the UN Human Rights Council Resolution (A_HRC_30_L.29) on \u2018Promoting\u00a0reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka,\u2019 dated 1 October\u00a02015. Whilst the MAP will focus on the effectiveness of accountability\u00a0measures from a victims\u2019 perspective, it will also consider issues of fair trial\u00a0and due process for suspects and accused persons.<\/p>\r\n

3. The UN Human Rights Council1 and the UN Special Rapporteur on Transitional\u00a0Justice2 have called for broad participation and consultation in the design and<\/p>\r\n

4. The MAP shall garner the views of victims inside and outside Sri Lanka. It shall\u00a0formulate its opinions independently – irrespective of party political\u00a0considerations or the agenda of any specific group (including the TGTE) \u2013according to the interests of fair justice, applying international fair trial\u00a0standards and best practices.<\/p>\r\n

5. The MAP\u2019s Legal Experts shall agree all reports prior to publication or\u00a0distribution. The initial mandate of the MAP shall run from November 2015 to\u00a0December 2016.\u00a0Specific Terms of Reference:<\/p>\r\n

Re: The judicial mechanism with a special counsel:<\/p>\r\n

6. To monitor, evaluate, and make recommendations on the establishment of the\u00a0\u201cjudicial mechanism with a special counsel to investigate allegations of\u00a0violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international\u00a0humanitarian law.\u201d3 The monitoring shall focus on the need for full and fair\u00a0accountability, victim reparations, as well as fair trial and due process.<\/p>\r\n

7. Subject to available information, particular attention should be given to:<\/p>\r\n

a. The concerns and expectations of victims;<\/p>\r\n

b. The treatment of victims within the system, particularly victims<\/p>\r\n

c. The mechanisms for victim participation in the process and for<\/p>\r\n

d. The participation of foreign judges and the set-up of judicial<\/p>\r\n

e. The participation of foreign prosecutors and investigators and<\/p>\r\n

f. The selection process and qualifications of national judges;<\/p>\r\n

g. The procedures for selecting suspects for prosecution;<\/p>\r\n

standpoint, for transitional justice measures depend, to a large extent, on the willingness of victims\u00a0and others to participate, for example, by sharing pertinent information with the relevant<\/p>\r\n

institutions. It is also necessary from the standpoint of effectiveness, for the measures, after all,\u00a0should respond to the needs and expectations of their potential beneficiaries. And it is called<\/p>\r\n

for in terms of their sustainability for these are inevitably long-term projects that will likely depend\u00a0on the willingness of stakeholders to defend them over time from the contingencies of politics.\u00a0This is more likely to happen if the stakeholders can claim ownership over them.\u201d\u00a0h. The application of international standards of fair trial and due<\/p>\r\n

i. The mechanisms for witness protection.<\/p>\r\n

RE: Other areas of transitional justice:<\/p>\r\n

8. To monitor, evaluate, and make recommendations on the other judicial and\u00a0non-judicial transitional justice mechanisms implemented by the Government\u00a0of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\r\n

9. Subject to available information, particular attention should be given to:<\/p>\r\n

a. Non judicial processes for truth-seeking;<\/p>\r\n

b. Institutional reform, including vetting of public employees;<\/p>\r\n

c. Treatment of prisoners or war;<\/p>\r\n

d. Demilitarisation and demobilization;<\/p>\r\n

e. Security sector reforms;<\/p>\r\n

f. The legality of measures designed to fight terrorism;<\/p>\r\n

g. Measures to prevent torture and sexual violence by the security<\/p>\r\n

h. The response to allegations of enforced disappearances;<\/p>\r\n

i. The treatment of Tamils and Muslims within the Sri Lankan legal<\/p>\r\n

10. The MAP will submit an interim report by March 2016 and a final report by<\/p>\r\n

January 2017 on those matters outlined in this Terms of Reference. It may<\/p>\r\n

issue press releases and position papers as the need arises.<\/p>\r\n

END<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sri Lanka – Expert Panel Nominated to Monitor Transitional Justice [\u0bae\u0bc7\u0bb2\u0bc1\u0bae\u0bcd]<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-full.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-19","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2907,"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19\/revisions\/2907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tgte-us.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fyst_prominent_words&post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}