Addressing the UN Human Rights Council during Sri Lanka's UPR review, Mario Arulthas of the NGO Liberation called on the Council "to establish an independent, international Commission of Inquiry (COI).
See here. Reproduced in full below:
Thank you Mr. President, and the working group for facilitating Sri Lanka’s Universal Periodic Review.
Sri Lanka’s first UPR in 2008 began shortly before the height of the armed conflict: a period in which a UN Panel of Experts found credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. An estimated 70,000 Tamil civilians are believed to have been killed in a matter of months during this time period, primarily attributed to the actions of the Sri Lankan military.
Nearly 4 years later, giving the government of Sri Lanka “time and space” for domestic processes has failed to advance peace or reconciliation in the traditionally Tamil North and East of Sri Lanka.
Concerned with the deteriorating state of human rights in Sri Lanka, member states made concrete, constructive recommendations during the UPR process. Sri Lanka’s response was extraordinarily belligerent in rejecting nearly half of the recommendations made – 94 out of 204 recommendations.
Sri Lanka’s refusal to adopt the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, and accede to the Rome Statute of the ICC—recommended by 18 states—speaks louder than the government’s rhetoric on addressing issues of torture, disappearances, or violations of international law through its domestic efforts.
Evidence has recently surfaced indicating that Sri Lankan forces executed a 12-year-old boy in cold blood, for no crime but for being born the son of the Tamil rebel leader. Just last week buses with over 900 Tamil civilians from the North were forcibly prevented from attending a demonstration in Colombo, to protest the enforced disappearance of their relatives.
Given the existence of credible allegations of war crimes, coupled with Sri Lanka’s demonstrated unwillingness and inability to investigate itself, we ask the Council to establish an independent, international Commission of Inquiry (COI) for Sri Lanka. An international COI could act as a guardrail against the continued broken promises made by the Sri Lankan government to its citizens and the international community and pave the way towards genuine reconciliation.
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