Without trust, Sri Lanka cannot

investigate its own war crimes

A UN report is set to reveal harrowing crimes. But the survivors do not believe their government is capable
of ensuring justice

Sonya Sceats-Tuesday 15 September 2015

Sri Lankan war crimes will be laid bare in a harrowing UN report to be
published on Wednesday. The Sri Lankan government has already launched
its latest charm offensive to convince the world it can deal with these
issues, but the international community must stay strong to ensure a
proper justice process that wins the confidence of survivors and enables the
country to heal.
Ever since the civil war ended in May 2009, Sri Lanka has invested vast
amounts of diplomatic capital in staving off calls for accountability for

crimes committed by both sides of the conflict, as well as torture and other
abuses afterwards as the country slid into despotism.
For years these efforts succeeded as Sri Lanka painted itself as a leader in
the fight against terrorism and a standard bearer for developing countries,
defending its sovereignty in the face of interference by western
governments pushing a human rights agenda. A commonwealth summit
hosted by Sri Lanka in November 2013 was a turning point. Brushing
off intense pressure for a boycott, the UK prime minister, David Cameron,
insisted that he would seize this opportunity to meet victims in Tamil parts
of the country and shine a light on human rights.
Cameron proved his critics wrong by turning his experience with families
of the disappeared into a passionate call for an international inquiry into
wartime atrocities and ongoing violations after the conflict ended. In March
last year, the UK and US built support among a coalition of states in Africa,
Latin America and elsewhere for a resolution of the UN human rights
council ordering an international investigation aimed at avoiding impunity
and ensuring accountability.
The UN report, to which Freedom from Torture submitted evidence, is
expected to reveal a sickening catalogue of international crimes committed
in the war and its aftermath. The UN human rights chief, Zeid Raad Al
Hussein, has already warned that the inquirys findings are of the most
serious nature.
Freedom from Torture supplied extensive forensic material to the
investigators based on almost 150 examinations conducted by our expert
doctors. Our report Tainted Peace shows that torture including rape and
extensive burning has continued to be practised by the Sri Lankan
military, police and intelligence services since the end of the conflict and
that those at particular risk include Tamils with a real or perceived
association with the Tamil Tigers, even at low levels and whether current or
historical.
The Sri Lankan government bitterly opposed the UN probe. Investigators
were apparently unable to access the country, even after Mahinda

Rajapaksa was ousted at presidential elections in January. The new Sri

Lankan government, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, concedes that
accountability is essential for reconciliation, but echoes the previous regime
by insisting this is an internal matter. In theory, a national process is
preferable, in keeping with Sri Lankas international human rights
obligations, but in practice this would prove highly problematic.

Any process that fails to win the support of survivors, including from the Tamil minority, is doomed to fail
before it even begins. Photograph: STR New/Reuters

Sri Lanka has a record of flawed domestic accountability processes and the
justice sector remains weak after years of debasement in the service of a
corrupt elite. While the new leadership has begun to restore press freedom
and the rule of law, it has proven unable or unwilling to take on Sri Lankas
overbloated and lawless security sector. In a painful blow to victims, a
senior commander whose division was implicated in serious human rights
abuse was recently promoted to army chief of staff.
Freedom from Torture has seen case materials for eight people tortured in
Sri Lanka this year, including as recently as June. In most cases the person
reports being abducted by plainclothes agents and transferred, often in
white vans, to unknown facilities where they were subjected to multiple
forms of torture such as beatings, asphyxiation by plastic bags full of petrol

fumes tied around the head, burning and sexual violence.

Trust us, said Sri Lankas foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, to
diplomats gathered at the Human Rights Council on Monday. But trust is in
short supply from survivors, many of whose families are still subject to
harassment and surveillance by the Sri Lanka authorities to this day.
The survivors we work with are adamant that Sri Lanka is incapable of
exposing those most responsible for their suffering to a justice process
meeting international standards. They are pinning their hopes on the UK,
US and other members of the human rights council to follow through on the
UN findings and demand an accountability mechanism that includes strong
international participation at every stage and level.
Any process that fails to win the support of survivors, including from the
Tamil minority, is doomed to fail before it even begins. Instead of aiding the
cause of reconciliation it might derail it. As Al Hussein said yesterday, the
human rights council owes it to Sri Lankans and to its own credibility to
ensure an accountability process that produces results.
Posted by Thavam