A/HRC/8/3 page 12 recommend measures to prevent abuses in the future.29 Sri Lanka also invited the formation of an International Independent Group of Eminent Persons to monitor the work of the national commission and to report on its conformity with international standards.30 But following a year of public statements by the Group expressing concern about the functioning of the commission,31 on 6 March 2008, the Group announced that it was terminating its functions because of the serious shortcomings in the work of the national inquiry and because of the lack of institutional support for the commission’s work.32 The Group stated that the national inquiry had “fallen far short of the transparency and compliance with basic international norms and standards pertaining to investigations and inquiries”.33 It noted that one of the many flaws in the commission was that there were structural conflicts of interest which seriously compromised the independence of the commission. The State Attorney-General’s Department provided legal counsel to the commission, playing a leading role in the panel of counsel to the commission. Given that the Attorney-General’s Department is also the chief legal adviser to the Government of Sri Lanka and had been involved in the original investigations into some of the cases being investigated by the commission, the Department was potentially going to be investigating itself.34 In addition, Department members could be potential witnesses to the commission. As the Group noted, this is a serious conflict of interest.35 A later assessment by the Group indicated that the formal conflict did in fact have a serious negative impact on the quality of the commission’s investigations.36 35. In some cases, it will be virtually impossible for the State to assure its citizens and the international community that a government-established commission can ever be truly independent. This may be the case where a commission is set up to investigate human rights abuses in the context of an internal armed conflict.37 In such cases, it has been the experience of the Special Rapporteur that an international commission of inquiry may be necessary. 29 The Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Alleged Serious Violations of Human Rights was established in a Presidential Warrant by his Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, P.O. No: CSA/10/3/8. 30 The IIGEP is composed of 11 international law and human rights experts from 11 different countries, and was formally established in February 2007. 31 See International Independent Group of Eminent Persons, Public Statements dated 11 June 2007, 15 June 2007, 19 September 2007, and 19 December 2007. 32 Ibid., Public Statement of 6 March 2008. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid., Public Statement of 11 June 2007. 35 Ibid. 36 Ibid., Public Statement of 15 June 2007. 37 E/CN.4/2005/7/Add.2, para. 60.