Highlighting that international judges, defence lawyers, prosecutors and investigators were crucial for a credible accountability process, Amnesty International welcomed the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka as an “opportunity” for justice if “the resolution and underlying commitments of Sri Lanka’s government are implemented in good faith,” said Amnesty International in a press release on Thursday. Amnesty’s South Asia Research Director, David Griffiths said, “Although far from perfect, if the resolution and the underlying commitments of Sri Lanka’s government are implemented in good faith it...
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena told the United Nations that his government had “succeeded in eliminating terrorism” and was willing to share their experience with other countries. Addressing the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Mr Sirisena said: “Sri Lanka succeeded in eliminating terrorism, which continues to throttle other developing countries extending from Asia to Africa and Latin America". “We defeated one of the world's most ruthless terror outfits,” added Mr Sirisena. “We believe that all these experiences can be shared fruitfully with other developing countries affected by terrorism,” he said. “Sri Lanka remains prepared to engage in a more active dialogue with these countries and will continue to speak and advocate against terrorism.”
A Sri Lankan army division accused of war crimes handed out spectacles to Tamil civilians last weekend, whilst another division held an eye clinic in the North-East . On Saturday September 26, military officials handed out glasses to Tamil civilians at a ceremony in Kilinochchi, in a project coordinated by the 57 Division and 571 Brigade. The 57 Division was led by Major General Jagath Dias during the final stages of the armed conflict, which saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed. Maj Gen Dias, who was recently promoted by Sri Lanka’s new government, stands accused of commanding war crimes that the division committed. Meanwhile in Mullaitivu on Sunday September 27, Army personnel from the 59, 64 and 68 Divisional areas, held an eye clinic at the Sillawatte Tamil College , in a project supervised by the 591 Brigade Commander.
Non-Governmental Organisations stressed the importance of ongoing monitoring in Sri Lanka, an internationalised judicial process for accountability, ending ongoing violations against the majority victim Tamil community and seeking a lasting political solution during the general debate on the OISL report into Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Addressing member states of the UNHRC during the debate, United Nations Watch condemning the ongoing “oppression of the Tamils” in Sri Lanka, called on the new government to “end impunity” and deliver a credible process for reconciliation and accountability.
Welcoming the adoption of a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom said Sri Lanka “must address the difficult legacy of its past”. UK Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire “welcomed the adoption of an important and historic resolution,” stating the “United Kingdom pushed hard for a UN process that would shine a light on a traumatic period in Sri Lanka’s history”. The minister also referred back to the OISL report, stating “today’s resolution sets Sri Lanka on a new path towards reconciliation and a more prosperous and inclusive future - a path which is clearly marked...
The head of Sri Lanka's Missing Person Commission, Justice Maxwell Paranagama, rejected UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussain's call to disband the commission established by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, and establish a new, more credible mechanism to deal with the issue. “We have been very transparent in our functioning. There were no armed forces or police personnel in the room where people testified. We held several sittings in the Tamil-speaking North and East and Colombo and examined 19,000 people including 16,000 from the North and East. The response to our call for testimonies was so good that if we sent out notices to 300 for a session, 1000 would turn up, and no one was turned away. Transport was arranged for people to go back to their villages if the sittings went late into the evening,” Mr Paranagama told The New Indian Express on Thursday.
The former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said “ there can never be immunity for these very serious crimes ,” which were committed in Sri Lanka. Speaking in an interview to Thanthi TV last week, Ms Pillay stated “the law is clear, nobody can grant amnesty, no government can grant amnesty for these serious crimes”. In a wide ranging interview the former UN human rights chief explored the question of whether a genocide had occurred, stating that it was up to a court of law to make the final decision. She said a court would have to find if “there was a deliberate intention to destroy for instance the Tamil population,” adding “I notice that even the discussion on evidence of sexual violence against woman and girls is reported to be systematic and intentional to destroy the Tamil group”. “The genocide convention is clear, the intention is not required for destruction of the whole group,” added Ms Pillay, in response to the question that not all Tamils on the island were killed during the final stages of the armed conflict. “ So it does not require the intention to destroy the whole of the Tamil group. The fact that some were killed and others not does not retract from the statute, which says “destruction in whole or in part of a group” ”. She also noted that “ even failure to stop genocide from happening is a crime ”. “This is what the International Court of Justice said about Serbia,” added Ms Pillay. “So failing to prevent. So if you acknowledge and fail to stop your soldiers from committing these crimes then that is also a crime of genocide, a crime against humanity .” Ms Pillay also spoke on the role of the international community, highlighting in particular India’s failure to stop the massacres from occurring. India “could have helped to prevent the deaths of almost 40,000 people,” she stated.
Together Against Genocide called on member states of the Human Rights Council to pursue recommendations of the UN report into Sri Lanka’s atrocities vial a full range of domestic and bilateral measures. Welcoming the UNHRC resolution on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights, TAG expressed regret that “the government of Sri Lanka has refused to de-militarize the North and East.” Highlighting the Sri Lankan prime minister’s recent comments indicating he would protect “southerners”, TAG said “there is thus deep and legitimate doubt among the community of survivors and...
The SLFP's vice president, Nimal Siripala de Silva thanked President Maithripala Sirisena for his "achievements" at the UN and said Sri Lanka's delegation had been successful in watering down the resolution to some extent, the Daily Mirror reported. However the minister said the implementation of recommendations given by the OHCHR Investigation in Sri Lanka (OISL) would create legal issues and be problematic to implement. “The UNHRC report says that Sri Lanka needs to adopt feasibility legislation, specific legislation to facilitate a hybrid court mandated to probe war crimes committed by security forces personnel. We will need to change our Constitution in order to make room for a hybrid court, and we can’t make these happen overnight,” he said to press on Thursday.
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government would request the EU to reissue the GSP+ trade concessions, as the human rights issue "had come to an end", the DailyMirror reported. Speaking to trade unionists on Wednesday, the prime minister said Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera would make the request from the European Union on Thursday. Earlier this year the prime minster had pledged that the concessions would be restored after September's UN Human Rights Council session. The previous government had blamed Mr Wickremesinghe for the concessions being withdrawn, after the EU stated it was concerned over human rights abuses.