Victim consultation and international participation are crucial to achieve accountability and a sustainable peace, according to NGO Pasumai Thaayagam.
Speaking at the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, a representative urged the council to "remain persistent" in encouraging the implementation of the resolution on Sri Lanka, passed in October last year.
"While the Sri Lankan government has made some strides in the right direction, we remain concerned with government statements and messages contrary to commitments made by the government," Pasumai Thaayagam said.
"There is increasing fear amongst Tamils that the current progress on the government's pledges, such as the establishing the Office of Missing Persons, is designed to alleviate international pressure rather than genuinely address concerns. Such fears are exacerbated by the government's lack of transparency and lack of consultations with the victim community in establishing such mechanisms."
"We stress the importance of victim consultations and the inclusion of international actors in any justice mechanisms, as crucial to the path towards accountability and a sustainable peace," the statement further said.
See the statement as delivered in full:
Thank you Mr. President.
Pasumai Thaayagam wishes to congratulate the UNHRC for 10 years of championing human rights. We would like to sincerely express gratitude to the High Commissioner and his office for the commendable achievements they have accomplished, including in Sri Lanka, and we look forward to the presentation of the oral report.
This Council must continue to remain persistent in its advocacy towards the implementation of Resolution 30 slash 1. While the Sri Lankan government has made some strides in the right direction, we remain concerned with government statements and messages contrary to commitments made by the government.
Despite co-sponsoring the resolution, President Sirisena has openly questioned the core findings of the 2015 High Commissioner report, emphatically resisted Paragraph 6 of the report’s recommendation to conduct an justice mechanism involving foreign judges and prosecutors, and has staunchly maintained that the military acted in compliance with international law. However, the inclusion of international investigators in the accountability mechanism proves to be even more critical now more than ever, as evidence of the use of cluster bombs in so-called No-fire Zones was published yesterday.
Over a year and a half into the President's term, Sri Lanka’s North East remains one of the most militarized regions in the world. Tens of thousands of Tamils remain displaced from their homes and lands and languish in IDP camps. The continued domineering presence of the military remains largely unabated in the North East under the guise of national security, with unfettered involvement in unlawfully appropriating private land, controlling commercial activities, continued abductions, torture, sexual violence and surveillance.
Demilitarization is crucial to post-war normalization and in attenuating the exacerbating disconnect between the government’s rhetoric of a ‘democratic transition’ and the victims mistrust of the government.
There is increasing fear amongst Tamils that the current progress on the government's pledges, such as the establishing the Office of Missing Persons, is designed to alleviate international pressure rather than genuinely address concerns. Such fears are exacerbated by the government's lack of transparency and lack of consultations with the victim community in establishing such mechanisms.
We stress the importance of victim consultations and the inclusion of international actors in any justice mechanisms, as crucial to the path towards accountability and a sustainable peace.
The human rights situation in the country will not improve until the culture of impunity is replaced with a culture of responsibility and accountability.