March 4, 2012 | 12:30 am | by sanjeewa -
By Raisa Wickrematunge Belgium based International Crisis Group (ICG) has called upon Sri Lanka to implement an accountability process, as well as carry out the recommendations outlined in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’s (LLRC) report. One of the main stated goals of the Crisis Group is to resolve deadly conflicts.In a release published on Thursday, the ICG claims that ‘the Government has weakened democratic institutions, deepened ethnic polarisation and aggravated the country’s long-standing impunity for human rights violations.’ As evidence of this, the Group points to militarisation in the North and East, while claiming that abductions, killings, torture and gender-based violence continues, even post-war. Recent media reports noted that there had been at at least 10 bodies found and seven people had been abducted in February alone. A recent Freedom From Torture report found that there were still incidents of torture used even in 2011.
At the same time the ICG commended the ‘forthright criticism’ that was contained in the LLRC report, particularly regarding media freedom, militarisation of the North and ignoring recommendations made by domestic commissions into certain killings and disappearances. Yet the ICG still maintained that there was a lack of thorough investigation into the alleged human rights violations at the end of the war, which it said was needed to establish reconciliation.
In its report, the ICG called on the Human Rights Council to implement the LLRC report recommendations and even suggested that Sri Lanka report to them with progress. If found lacking, they argued, an international independent investigation should be launched, and those found responsible of war crimes should be prosecuted on both sides.
The Government had pledged to release numbers of civilians killed in the final stages of war, and had also said they are conducting military courts of inquiry with regard to several incidents mentioned in the LLRC report. Yet the ICG maintains that these measures only serve as a ‘thin veil’ obscuring unwillingness to ‘conduct genuine investigations’ into the offences committed by both the military and the LTTE in the final stages of the war. It also charged that the investigating bodies were not independent and that a non political body needed to be set up to look into the allegations, particularly with regard to hospital shelling, which the Channel 4 documentary charged was done deliberately.
In addition, the report claimed that militarisation continued even after the Emergency Regulations were lifted, with the President using the Public Security Ordinance to continue giving the military police powers. The decision to bring the police force under the Ministry of Defence was also questioned, with the LLRC report noting, “it is desirable that the Police Department be de-linked from the institutions dealing with the armed forces which are responsible for the security of the State”.
The ICG referred to the 18th Amendment and the Prevention of Terrorism Act as draconian pieces of legislation, and noted that abductions and killings had surged again in recent months. It also noted that women in the North and East face financial insecurity and are sometimes sexually assaulted.
In terms of steps towards reconciliation, the ICG painted a dark picture, citing the Government suspending talks with the TNA to set up a Parliamentary Select Committee, the continued delays in Northern Provincial Council elections and the President retracting a statement to the Indian Foreign Minister where he had allegedly promised to implement the 13th Amendment.
‘Sri Lanka’s post-war course is threatening future violence,’ the release says from the outset, and adds somewhat ominously that the UN Human Rights Council has a chance to do something about it in its 19th Session. The idea of foreign intervention in reconciliation has been vehemently objected to by many. At the Thummula junction, a board set up reads, “[US] You have Abraham Lincoln. We have Mahinda.” Death fasts have been launched and protests organised against the UN. With this level of rhetoric, it remains to be seen whether the UN will in fact decide to intervene. Yet this does not serve to erase or explain the incidents pointed out in the report, and in the many others that have been published on post-war Sri Lanka. Despite, this, it would seem that the US remains wary to intervene. On Friday (1) a US District Court reportedly dismissed a lawsuit against the President, noting that he had diplomatic immunity as a foreign head of state. In this backdrop, the plans optimistically highlighted by the ICG look unlikely to be implemented.
In its report, the ICG called on the Human Rights Council to implement the LLRC report recommendations and even suggested that Sri Lanka report to them with progress. If found lacking, they argued, an international independent investigation should be launched, and those found responsible of war crimes should be prosecuted on both sides.
The Government had pledged to release numbers of civilians killed in the final stages of war, and had also said they are conducting military courts of inquiry with regard to several incidents mentioned in the LLRC report. Yet the ICG maintains that these measures only serve as a ‘thin veil’ obscuring unwillingness to ‘conduct genuine investigations’ into the offences committed by both the military and the LTTE in the final stages of the war. It also charged that the investigating bodies were not independent and that a non political body needed to be set up to look into the allegations, particularly with regard to hospital shelling, which the Channel 4 documentary charged was done deliberately.
In addition, the report claimed that militarisation continued even after the Emergency Regulations were lifted, with the President using the Public Security Ordinance to continue giving the military police powers. The decision to bring the police force under the Ministry of Defence was also questioned, with the LLRC report noting, “it is desirable that the Police Department be de-linked from the institutions dealing with the armed forces which are responsible for the security of the State”.
The ICG referred to the 18th Amendment and the Prevention of Terrorism Act as draconian pieces of legislation, and noted that abductions and killings had surged again in recent months. It also noted that women in the North and East face financial insecurity and are sometimes sexually assaulted.
In terms of steps towards reconciliation, the ICG painted a dark picture, citing the Government suspending talks with the TNA to set up a Parliamentary Select Committee, the continued delays in Northern Provincial Council elections and the President retracting a statement to the Indian Foreign Minister where he had allegedly promised to implement the 13th Amendment.
‘Sri Lanka’s post-war course is threatening future violence,’ the release says from the outset, and adds somewhat ominously that the UN Human Rights Council has a chance to do something about it in its 19th Session. The idea of foreign intervention in reconciliation has been vehemently objected to by many. At the Thummula junction, a board set up reads, “[US] You have Abraham Lincoln. We have Mahinda.” Death fasts have been launched and protests organised against the UN. With this level of rhetoric, it remains to be seen whether the UN will in fact decide to intervene. Yet this does not serve to erase or explain the incidents pointed out in the report, and in the many others that have been published on post-war Sri Lanka. Despite, this, it would seem that the US remains wary to intervene. On Friday (1) a US District Court reportedly dismissed a lawsuit against the President, noting that he had diplomatic immunity as a foreign head of state. In this backdrop, the plans optimistically highlighted by the ICG look unlikely to be implemented.
