Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

Six years since massacre, no closer to justice – Human Rights Watch

Sri Lanka’s failure to seek justice for the slaying of 17 aid workers in Trincomalee indicates the government’s intrinsic unwillingness to prosecute its security forces for atrocities, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said in a report marking the 6th anniversary of the killings.

On August 4 2006, 17 Tamil speaking aid workers were executed by gunmen in the Action Contre la Faim (ACF) office compound in Muthur, Trincomalee. There has been neither progress in government inquiries nor any charges for the killings, despite forceful evidence of security force participation.

James Ross, legal and policy director at HRW said:

“The sixth anniversary of the summary executions of 17 aid workers has brought the Sri Lankan government no closer to obtaining justice for the victims,

“President Rajapakse’s callous indifference to the suffering of the aid workers’ families will be a sad hallmark of his administration.”

In July 2009, the army and navy were exonerated in the ACF killings by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry which instead blamed the LTTE or Muslim militia.

HRW reports that witnesses faced difficulty in testifying under the commission and no effort was made to resolve a failed police investigation.

Regarding Sri Lanka’s imminent ‘National Action Plan’ Ross said:

“Governments that demanded action at the UN Human Rights Council shouldn’t be mollified by the Sri Lankan government’s tepid proposal to pursue criminal inquiries,

“Regarding investigations into wartime abuses, the government’s ‘action plan’ reads more like an ‘inaction plan.’”

Read the full HRW report here.

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.