President Maithripala Sirisena insisted that there were no ‘war crimes allegations’ on the war in Sri Lanka, arguing that investigations have found only allegations of ‘human rights violations’.

He made this observation in an interview with the Qatar based Al Jazeera television network. According to Al Jazeera, the president’s statement appears to contradict key findings from a UN investigation into the country's civil war released in September last year.

The report from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) investigated atrocities committed by both the Tamil separatists and the Sri Lankan Army during the 26-year-long conflict.

In detailing its principal findings, the OHCHR report stated: "If established before a court of law, many of these allegations would amount, depending on the circumstances, to war crimes and/or crimes against humanity."

Speaking to Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Sirisena, rejected the allegations.

"I must say very clearly there is no allegation regarding 'war crimes', there were war crimes allegations during the early stages. But at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, mainly in the proposals presented in September, there were no 'war crimes' allegations against us.

"They contained allegations of human rights violations only. When you consider the facts surrounding the allegations of human rights violations, we are committed as a member of the United Nations, to implementing the main points and proposals," Sirisena said.

The OHCHR report recommended the creation of a "hybrid special court" comprised of international and domestic judges, persecutors, lawyers and investigators.

"Sri Lanka must now move forward to dismantle the repressive structures and institutional cultures that remain deeply entrenched after decades of erosion of human rights," said Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, UN high commissioner for human rights, when the report was published last year.

At the time, the high commissioner, who is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on February 5, also warned against a purely domestic court.

"The levels of mistrust in state authorities and institutions by broad segments of Sri Lankan society should not be underestimated," he said, adding it is for this reason that the establishment of a hybrid special court is so essential. 

"A purely domestic court procedure will have no chance of overcoming widespread and justifiable suspicions fueled by decades of violations, malpractice and broken promises."

However, President Sirisena told Al Jazeera that he is committed to bringing war time perpetrators to trial, but that he is opposed to foreign involvement.

"Within that commitment, we will always act in accordance with the sovereignty of our country and in accordance with our constitution. For this work, we can obtain foreign technology in certain areas. In terms of people we definitely do not need outsiders."

Sirisena also denied providing conflicting messages or backtracking on ensuring justice is served, saying: "There is no way of doing this in an express or super-fast manner. So what we are hoping to do through this is to free the country from the allegations that have been made against it. To free the country, we must clearly face the truth, and similarly we must take decisive actions towards accountability."