Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

'Sri Lanka hostile to accountability' - Deutsche Welle report

There are serious doubts over Sri Lanka's reconciliation efforts, including the touted Truth and Reconciliation Commission, reported Deutsche Welle (DW).

Germany's international broadcaster, speaking to several NGOs, said it was unlikely, given Sri Lanka's hostility to accountability, that it was serious about delivering justice.

Speaking to the public-owned broadcaster, the Sri Lanka analyst for the International Crisis Group (ICG), Alan Keenan, commenting on the lack of progress towards a political settlement and continued subjugation of the Tamil people, said,

“The central government has blocked the northern council from using even its limited constitutional powers. Instead the region remains under de-facto military occupation. Unfortunately, all the trips to South Africa won’t matter until the Sri Lankan government decides to treat the Tamil people as equals.

In a statement sent to DW, Human Rights Watch (HRW), criticised the government’s failure to promote ethnic reconciliation, stating,

there is no way, given the hostility Sri Lanka displays towards calls for accountability, that it is in any way serious about delivering justice, whether through a TRC or through its own investigations and prosecutions.

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.