To Stop Impunity and Recurrence, Major Perpetrators Must be Prosecuted on Both Sides
There were at least two major incidents that showed the danger of impunity and, more particularly, the failure to conduct proper and frank investigations on what happened during the ‘last stages of the war.’ This was the failure of accountability that the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, in fact, promised before the UN Secretary General in May 2009.
by Laksiri Fernando
( October 8, 2015, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is no conclusive evidence to say that punishments alone can deter recurrence of human rights violations or war crimes. However, without a comprehensive system of punishments there is no other way to move towards deterrence in preventing continued violations and crimes, whether ‘ordinary’ or war related. Rehabilitation and/or reform measures alone might not work without a measure of punishments. All adults in society should be able to, educated to and compelled to take full responsibility for their actions.
