The acquittal of 24 Sri Lankan army corporals over the rape and murder of Tamil civilians in 1996 has been criticised by the US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) as “entrenching impunity” on the island.
"This acquittal revalidates Tamils' loss of faith in the Sri Lankan judicial system to deliver justice," said USTPAC president Dr Karunyan Arulanantham. "This trial not only took an unconscionable 20 years, but also demonstrates the lack of will by the judicial system to treat mass atrocity crimes against Tamils – particularly those by the security forces– in a fair manner, entrenching impunity."
The organisation noted the lack of convictions for those responsible for anti-Tamil violence, dating back to the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1956. "Because of an almost total lack of justice from Sri Lankan state institutions, Tamils firmly believe that for justice for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during and after the recent war to be at all credible, Sri Lanka must fulfill commitments made by the current government to the UN Human Rights Council in Oct. 2015 through Resolution 30/1," said Dr Arulanantham.
USTPAC went on to appeal to “the United States Government, the UN Human Rights Council and the rest of the international community to work with Sri Lanka to assure that robust, credible and timely transitional justice mechanisms are put in place to allow people of all ethnicities to move forward together”.
"The credibility of all states that cosponsored Resolution 30/1 and that of the UN Human Rights Council is at stake, and international efforts should continue in earnest to effect a successful transitional justice process in Sri Lanka leading to a peaceful, just and ethnically diverse state," said Dr Arulanantham.
Read the full text of the statement here.
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