On May 18, Tamils in Sri Lanka will observe Mullivaikkal Memorial Day, which commemorates those killed in the final stages of the country’s brutal civil war that ended in 2009. Thousands of Tamil civilians were killed when the Sri Lankan military bombed a self-proclaimed “no fire zone” in the fight against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Following the LTTE’s defeat, government security forces exceptionally executed or forced the disappearance of captured LTTE fighters and suspected civilian supporters.
Fourteen years later, the Sri Lankan government remains Refuse about the atrocities committed by his forces. mothers of the missingA group that has persistently sought to know the fate of their loved ones faces harassment from security agencies, while the government provides neither information nor justice.
Government missing persons office , Established to trace the missing, there has been no progress. April 1st UN report criticized the agency’s appointment of “individuals implicated in past human rights violations” and the office’s “interference in the prosecution of such cases”.
During the conflict, both sides committed numerous rights abuses, including torture, extrajudicial killings, attacks on civilians, and the use of child soldiers. Various United Nations bodies, Human Rights Watch, and other human rights organizations have consistently criticized the Sri Lankan administration for failing to seriously investigate and properly prosecute those responsible for serious rights abuses. war crimes During and after the 26-year civil war.
Some government officials implicated in the alleged crimes remain politically powerful or hold Senior Ranks in the Sri Lankan Army, The authorities continue to confiscate or grab land owned by Tamils or Hindu temples.
The government’s reluctance to prosecute Civil War-era crimes has forced victims and their families to seek justice elsewhere. The United Nations established an accountability evidence gathering project For use in future lawsuits after Govt. Has taken back from one prior agreement which envisaged a “hybrid” process of Sri Lankan and foreign judicial officers.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has proposed the creation of a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, but Recommendations of all previous Home Commissions has been ignored. This would be a way of sidelining rather than promoting the efforts of justice.
The Sri Lankan government must stop wallowing and fulfill its obligation to investigate and prosecute the grave violations for which so many people are still suffering. Until that happens, countries should work with the United Nations Accountability Project to vigorously pursue justice abroad.