Injustice fuels Sri Lanka's cycle of abuse and impunity
by Amnesty International
Amnesty International has accused the Sri Lankan government of trapping the country in a vicious cycle of abuse and impunity. A new report published on Thursday by the organization details the Sri Lankan government’s failure to deliver justice for serious human rights violations over the past twenty years.
[Dr. Manoharan's son Rajihar was killed in Sri Lanka in January 2006, but he is still waiting for justice-video: Amnesty International]
"Twenty Years of Make-Believe: Sri Lanka’s Commissions of Inquiry", documents the failure of successive Sri Lankan governments to provide accountability for violations, including enforced disappearances, killings, and torture.
Since 1991, the Sri Lankan government has formed nine ad hoc Commissions of Inquiry to investigate enforced disappearances and a number of other human rights-related inquiries.
These commissions of inquiry have lacked credibility and have delayed criminal investigations, according to Amnesty International, who accused the government of failing to protect victims and witnesses. While most, if not all, of these Commissions of Inquiry identified alleged perpetrators, very few prosecutions for human rights violations have resulted.
From the outbreak of anti-Tamil rioting in July 1983, which led to full-scale armed conflict between the state and the Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam – LTTE), increasing numbers of people were victims of gross human rights violations in Sri Lanka. By the late 1980s, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions had reached vast proportions.
These violations occurred in the context of two major conflicts in the country: the government’s war with the LTTE in the north and east of the country, and a second confrontation between government forces and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People’s Liberation Front, JVP), a southern-based Sinhalese party that sought to overthrow the government.
By 1991, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances had received almost 15,000 reports of enforced disappearances and had transmitted 4,932 cases to the government of Sri Lanka.
President Ranasinghe Premadasa created Sri Lanka’s first Commission of Inquiry into "involuntary removals of persons" in January 1991. Its mandate was extremely limited, dealing only with new enforced disappearances that occurred after the establishment of the CoI (the vast majority of Sri Lanka’s tens of thousands of reported enforced disappearances from the period occurred between 1988 and 1990).
Since 1991, there have been nine Commissions of Inquiry to investigate enforced disappearances and a number of other human rights-related inquiries. While most, if not all, of these Commissions of Inquiry identified alleged perpetrators, very few prosecutions for human rights violations have resulted.
The Sri Lankan government has brushed off requests for an independent investigation into violations in the context of the recent military conflict, in spite of a 23 May joint statement by the Sri Lankan President and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stating that: "The Government will take measures to address those grievances".
"There is strong ground to question the Sri Lankan government’s sincerity about its most recent promise to provide accountability for the war crimes and human rights violations that occurred in the past few months, given the extremely poor track record documented in Amnesty International’s most recent report," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director.
Amnesty International has called on the government to use the opportunity created by the end of military operations against the LTTE to provide accountability for serious violations and abuses committed by both sides during the last months of fighting which cost thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
"As the Sri Lankan people contend with the most recent abuses committed by both sides of the recent conflict, particularly during the last few months of the fighting, the reality is that they have been haunted by injustice and impunity for years," said Sam Zarifi.
"If communities that have been torn apart by decades of violence and impunity are to be reconciled, the Sri Lankan government should initiate internal reforms and seek international assistance to prevent ongoing violations and ensure real accountability for past abuses."
As an immediate priority, Amnesty International is calling for the establishment of an independent international commission to investigate allegations of serious violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law by both the Sri Lankan forces and the Tamil Tigers in the recent military hostilities.
"The Sri Lankan authorities have had little success in providing accountability for abuses against civilians committed by the LTTE; they are even less likely to effectively investigate and prosecute their own forces for violations of human rights and humanitarian law," Sam Zarifi said.
"Given the scale of the problem of impunity in Sri Lanka, accountability can only be achieved with the active commitment of the Sri Lankan government, supported by systematic and sustained international human rights monitoring and technical assistance."
To address the need for broader human rights protection and reform, Amnesty International has called for the establishment of a UN human rights monitoring presence under the auspices of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate reported abuses and assist Sri Lanka’s national institutions to deliver justice.
Amnesty International is holding a public panel discussion on Friday at a side event at the UN Human Rights Council session. The panel will be discussing the finding of the report in detail and include:
Gene Dewey, a member of the last International Commission of Inquiry on Sri Lanka
Dr Manoharan, whose son was killed in the ‘Trico 5’ incident, one of the high profile human rights cases where the family are still waiting for justice. [amnestyinternational.org]
11 Comments
This incident should be seen in the correct context. It happened during a period when mysterious forces TamilNet claimed 'Ellan Force' were detonating explosives killing Police and others in isolated posts. LTTE called it a 'peoples uprising'.
It was dark and late evening. Someone threw a grenande at STF near where these 5 youth were. The STF either out of revenge or mistaken identity kill youth nearby. Given general incompetence of Police it could have easily been revenge. It could have been mistaken identity too. The govt was reluctant to pursue the matter since it happened during a war of attrition.
Sri Lankans should be deeply concerned about the current fascistic environment that has engulfed the country and the direction of its immediate future. In these pages a distinguished citizen of the world, a senior political leader and eminent lawyer Bob Rae of Canada comments
“Its now a different place run by 2 Govts – the 2nd being the illegal one run by the Rajapakse brothers and the army.” Rae was humiliated - turned off at the airport despite possessing a valid visa and in the presence of Canadian diplomats based in Colombo. This has happened to several other societies in the world in recent history – occupied-Europe under the Nazis, Communist Russia and East Europe, post-Shah Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, Uganda under Idi Amin to name a few. The cheerful, smiling, hospitable Sri Lanka the world knew is well in the process of being turned into a brutal, secretive police state where democratic rights guaranteed by the Constitution will be totally meaningless. We are going into a civil junta under the iron heels of an oligarchy lead by greedy, ambitious, ill-educated men.
ISS
The question is which government? Although the ordinary people and civil administration would by and large wish for justice and human rights we have a shadow government comprising the three Rajapakses and the Army Commander Fonseka effectively running the country under emergency law and PTA. At the moment rule of law is suspended in Sri Lanka.
HRW, This is one story of a father about his son in SL.He maybe a LTTE supporter.Nobody proved it or deny it.But there are thosands of sons killed.You organisation did nothing when the UNP government killing 60000 youth in SL in 1987 to 89. Why? Because they are Sinhalese?Your organisation think only tamils human rights.
Even in recent history a suicide bomber blast herself in Fort railway station and killed about 10 innocent students of a Colombo school on their way to school after sport event. They are also sons of father's like Mr.Manoharan.Your organisation think that those kids died of that blast are aliens because of they are Sinhalese.It is time to stop your organisation duplicity.
To Rana and all,
Who ever violates the human rights they should be punished. The govt killed thousands of students children and many more times of other civilians in the name of war. Just govt did it deliberately or with ignorance just because they were tamils.If the govt has nothing to hide why they should not allow for independant investigations? they do not re settle the people and not giving basic facilities to people. If the govt was and is able to spend money for troops and arms why they could not spend for people. Even now theyare looked after by UN. So it itself shows how the govt looks after the tamils. Now the APRC and other things are just for the name. Are they willing to give the Tamils the due rights. They want the tamils to live like slaves. Thats it.
T
Vithiya,Srilanka's seperetist movement created by Jaffna's high cast people[Vellala] educated in english language.This idea nurtured by British before they left SL..These vellala's have high mentality and arrogance about their cast and education.{They took their higher education from UK.} British want Srilanka ruled by minority Tamils. They hate Sinhala Buddhists.Still it is same. And later uneducated [not vellala] Prabakaran took over the task by violent way.His idea to kill as many as Sinhalese and pressurerise SL government.Many President in SL try to solve the problem by discussion but failed.HE.MR try to solve it peacefully but Praba refused.This useless war created by Praba and funded by tamil diaspora.And finally tamil diaspora yelling for H/R violations. Why not they think about earlier.
Any war innocent people dying.Mr.Manoharan's son is a one victim.Any Government has a right to protect their people and the sovernighty of their country.But waging a war and protect human rights is a impossible task.Because in the battle field it is a deadliest fight between soldier and the enemy. There is no politicians or H/R activit's on the battle field.It is depend on the mentality of a soldiers and enemies.
Rana,
Your response is a typical sinhala racist one. You say that any Government has a right to protect their people, but the sinhala government slaughtered 20,000 Tamils just in few days. This is solid proof that the sinhala state does not consider Tamils as their people.
You say that British want Srilanka ruled by minority Tamils. In fact British don't give a damn about srilanka after they left. As long as they ruled they had the hardworking and sincere people work for them because they wanted profit from their colony. Once they left you know what happened when the sinhala government considered race as the factor for jobs and education.
Arul, Any government has right to protect their people from terrorists.I maybe a racist but not a terrorist.You talked about 20,000 civilians death[it might go up in near future to 100,000].To protect people from terrorists any government can kill more than that.
In 1987-89 government killed 60000 singhala youths because they took arms against government.Though most of the victim were innocent youth,government at that time no other option.The HRW or even UNHCR did not care what happened in SL at that time.
If British don't give a damn about SL after they left here,for what sake they sent Miliband here? For what reason Miliband,Kouchner and Scandinavians gather secretly and held discussions.
Rana,
This is exactly I am talking about, equating all Tamils to terrorists. In your view the 20000 victims are terrorists. If the state has no qualms about killing such a large number of civilians irrespective or whether they are Tamils or Sinhalese, such a state looses moral right to exist.
Any country deserves moral authority to exist only by the consent of the people. The sinhala racist state exists purely because of other morally corrupt states like Pakistan, China and India. But the national boundaries are not static in history. In our own life time we saw the disintegration of Yugoslavia, birth of Kosovo, birth of East Timor, tearing down of Berlin wall. Time will deliver the ultimate justice.
Arul,Yes We saw birth of Kosovo,East Timor and the tearing down Berlin wall. But believe me nobody can do it to SL.There is a few reason for it.
India never allow to divide SL.Because if that happen India knows that it is a threat to their country.If it is not India the super power already intervene and try to divide SL.But any country in the world wouldn't like to go against India.
And as a singhalese we never allow anybody to divide our country until the last sinhala person get killed.So the Ealam never become a reality. So tamil diaspora should understand it now.Sooner the better.
Rana,
Those who forget history will get it repeated. Do you remember the mighty soviet empire of our times? Compared to soviet empire India is nothing.
You may not know but India is facing a massive Maoist uprising in so many states and is fighting insurgencies in Kashmir and northeast. Now that with the Chinese encirclement of India by dominating failed states like Pakistan, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Burma, we may see disintegration of India in our own life time. Compared to India, Srilanka is...