UN urges Sri Lanka to hold trials for war crimes

Witnesses must be protected under an effective transitional justice mechanism that should include international judges, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in an annual report. The military and Tamil Tiger rebels – who were fighting for an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the Indian Ocean island – are both likely to have committed war crimes during the 26-year conflict that ended in 2009, the UN said last year.

President Maithripala Sirisena’s government, formed in March 2015, has “consolidated its position, creating a political environment conducive to reforms”, but governance reform and transitional justice had lagged, the report said. 

“The early momentum established in investigating emblematic cases must be sustained, as early successful prosecutions would mark a turning point from the impunity of the past,” it said.

“Continuing allegations of arbitrary arrest, torture and sexual violence, as well as more general military surveillance and harassment, must be swiftly addressed, and the structures and institutional culture that promoted those practices be dismantled.” 

A spokesman for the government in Colombo was not immediately available for comment. Sirisena has said that foreign participation is not needed for an impartial inquiry. Many Sri Lankans oppose foreign involvement and supporters of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa believe that UN efforts aim to punish the military unfairly. 

The UN Human Rights Council will debate Zeid’s report tomorrow when the government is expected to come under fresh pressure to commit to prosecuting perpetrators. Sri Lanka acknowledged this month for the first time that some 65,000 people were missing from the war. The United Nations and activists have long urged justice for the families of those who disappeared.