Establish An International Investigation: Open Letter To The UNHRC On Sri Lanka By Southern Countries Based Civil Society
March 22, 2014 
Civil Society organisations based in 15 Southern countries call upon Southern states to play a prominent role at the 25th regular session of the Council in supporting the establishment of an independent, international investigative mechanism on Sri Lanka that is capable of producing accountability.
The 24 signatory Civil Society organisations based in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Uganda said; “From our experience we know that no amount of time will allow truth, justice and accountability to be established domestically so long as rule of law is subverted and an environment of human rights abuse and impunity prevails. In such circumstances, pursuant to its mandate to address violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, the Council must lose no time in instituting an international mechanism to independently investigate allegations of serious violations in Sri Lanka. Moreover, the High Commissioner’s call for investigations represents the natural progression of the Council’s efforts on Sri Lanka in the last two years. If states do not fully heed this call it will amount to lowering a threshold the body has set for itself. We fear that such a signal from the Council will only bolster ongoing human rights abuses and encourage further break down of democracy in Sri Lanka. Given this context, we call upon Southern states to play a prominent role at the 25th regular session of the Council in supporting the establishment of an independent, international investigative mechanism on Sri Lanka that is capable of producing accountability.”
We publish below the statement in full;
To: Member States of the UN Human Rights Council
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