The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) has vehemently condemned the pardoning of a Sri Lankan soldier convicted for massacre of 8 Tamil civilians including a 5-year-old.

“The conviction of Sunil Ratnayake was an exception in Sri Lankan judicial history. It is probably to date the only case where an army soldier was convicted for murder of Tamil civilians during war other than the Krishanthy Kumaraswamy case,” the umbrella body said in a statement on Saturday.

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has released a statement, in response to Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa’s decision to pardon Sunil Ratnayake, an army officer convicted of killing 8 Tamil civilians including children, calling for the international community to consider alternative avenues to justice including the invocation of universal jurisdiction.

The Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) announced it plans to file a legal challenge of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa's presidential pardon of Sunil Ratnayake, at Sri Lanka's Supreme Court.

Ratnayake, a soldier who was convicted for the massacre of eight Tamil civilians in 2000 and sentenced to death in 2015, was pardoned by the Sri Lankan president this week.

As reported by FT.lk, CPRP Chairman Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera said:

A wide cross-section of civil society in Sri Lanka and the North-East has called for the reduction of numbers of prisoners through releases and called on the authorities to implement better hygiene standards in prisons on the island in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A letter from civil society organisations published on March 26 was addressed to Sri Lanka's President, Minister of Justice, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Commissioner General of Prisons, President of the Bar Association and copied to among others, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. The letter followed an earlier appeal by the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners issued on March 16.

Human Rights Watch has released a statement condemning the presidential pardon of former Sgt. Sunil Ratnayake, who was convicted for massacring 8 Tamil civilians including children.

(Photo Credit: World Bank)

Following Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's call for debt relief, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have called on bilateral creditors to suspend debts from International Development Association (IDA) countries, which may benefit Sri Lanka.

The pardoning of a Sri Lankan soldier found guilty of massacring Tamil civilians has proven the necessity for an international justice mechanism, said PEARL, the US-based advocacy group.

The soldier, Sunil Rathnayake’s guilt “is undisputed”, the organisation said in a statement on Friday. “Several other credible suspects were not even charged, in one of many examples of the domestic justice system’s failure to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes against Tamils.”

The families of disappeared expressed their deep concern at the “lack of justice in Sri Lanka as it fails to imprison murderers,” following the news that Sunil Rathnayake was released.

The former Staff Sergeant of the Sri Lankan Army, was given a presidential pardon yesterday and released from Welikada prison, despite being convicted after a 13 year trial for the murder of eight Tamil civilians in Mirusuvil in April 2001.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) condemned the Presidential pardon granted to Sunil Ratnayake, Former Staff Sergeant of the Sri Lankan Army, for the murder of eight Tamil civilians in Mirusuvil in April 2001. 

"The full pardon and extinguishment of serious punishment constitutes a blow to the victims of these violations," the ICJ said in a press release. 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said the pardon of a Sri Lankan soldier after he was found guilty for massacring Tamils, is an “affront to victims” and “further undermines the limited progress the country has made towards ending impunity for mass human rights abuse,” in a statement released this morning.