Lt. Col. Thileepan addresses crowds at Nallur, Jaffna as he commences his hunger strike. Today marks the 28th anniversary of the death of Lt. Col Thileepan, after he fasted to death on hunger strike, appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.
UPDATED: 1845 GMT A resolution calling for a "credible justice process" with " Commonwealth and other foreign judges" in order to prosecute for mass atrocities committed during the final stages of the island's armed conflict has been tabled at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. See the full text of the resolution here . It calls for a "credible justice process" with "independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by individuals known for integrity and impartiality" and "Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers, and authorized prosecutors and investigators" . It also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to "present an oral update" to the Council at the 32nd session in June 2016 and present a "comprehensive report followed by discussion on the implementation of the present resolution at its 34th session" in March 2017. The OHCHR will also continue to assess progress on implementation of the recommendations listed in the OISL report.
A memorial was opened in remembrance of the children killed when their school was bombed by Sri Lanka’s air force in 1995. Around 71 Tamil civilians were killed in bombing raids in the Nagarkovil area 20 years ago today, with 26 children killed at the site of the new memorial, which was opened in their former school, Nagarkovil Central School.
The OHCHR investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) indicates a pattern of violations that suggest that crimes against humanity and war crimes were likely committed, said the United Nations Human Rights Chief upon releasing the report on Wednesday. Speaking at a press conference at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Zeid Hussein said, “The report draws us closer to the conclusion that crime against humanity and war crim shave apparently been committed by state actors, the LTTE and paramilitary groups.” Highlighting a “deep mistrust” between victims and the state, and “repeated failures by the state in providing justice,” the Human Rights Chief said that a significant recommendation from the report was the set up of a hybrid court to ensure there is no impunity for crimes of “such grave nature.” Mr Zeid added, “a purely domestic procedure will not succeed in overcoming decades of broken promises… it is a reality that Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system is not ready to handle these types of crimes.” Please find a link to the full report here . Conclusions of the OISL report: "The OHCHR investigation contained in this report was born out of the past failure of the Government of Sri Lanka to address accountability for the most serious human rights violations and crimes. Ending the impunity enjoyed by the security forces and associated paramilitary groups, as well as holding to account surviving members of the LTTE, will require political will and concerted efforts to ensure the non-recurrence of these violations and crimes.
Updates with further reactions 09.45 BST 18 Sep 2015 The OHCHR investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) indicates a pattern of violations that suggest that crimes against humanity and war crimes were likely committed, said the United Nations Human Rights Chief upon releasing the report on Wednesday. Speaking at a press conference at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Zeid Hussein said, “The report draws us closer to the conclusion... that crime against humanity and war crimes.... have apparently been committed by state actors,... the LTTE and paramilitary groups.” Highlighting a “deep mistrust” between victims and the state, and “repeated failures by the state in providing justice,” the Human Rights Chief said that a significant recommendation from the report was the set up of a hybrid court to ensure there is no impunity for crimes of “such grave nature.” Mr Hussein added, “a purely domestic procedure will not succeed in overcoming decades of broken promises… it is an inescapable reality that Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system is not ready to handle these types of crimes.” He further called on Sri Lanka to show it's commitment to non-recurrence by ratifying the Rome Statute. Please find a link to the full report here . See summary report here .
Photographs: Tamil Guardian A signature campaign calling for an international process of justice and accountability for the mass killing of Tamil civilians during the final stages of the armed phase of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict continued at Jaffna University.
Photograph: HRC Secretariat
A signature campaign calling for an international process of justice and accountability for the mass killing of Tamils in 2009 spread to Amparai on Saturday.
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the massacre of 184 Tamil civilians by soldiers of the Sri Lankan army. On September 9, 1990, the men, women and children from Sathurukondan and surrounding villages, on the outskirts of Batticaloa, were taken to an army camp by Sri Lankan soldiers, where they were killed. The mass killings, which were carried out during the presidency of the UNP's Ranasinghe Premadasa, were investigated in a probe established by then-president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1997. The probe identified three captains in the Sri Lankan army as being responsible for the killings. The retired judge who led the inquiry, K Palakidnar said that there was strong evidence for the massacre and urged Ms Kumaratunga to hold the perpetrators to account, however no action was taken by the government.
The Northern Provincial Council passed a resolution calling for the formation of an international tribunal to try those alleged to have carried out mass atrocities on the island. In a resolution that was unanimously passed earlier today, the NPC noted Sri Lanka’s “long and blighted history of human rights violations” which they had characterised as amounting to genocide. “In this context, we the members of the Northern Provincial Council believe that the trial of the alleged perpetrators should not take place through any mechanism instituted by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) as a State also incurs responsibility for the acts of its agents,” the resolution said. Further stating that no domestic law prescribes these international crimes and whether Sri Lanka’s constitution would allow foreign judges to be appointed to exercise jurisdiction, the NPC said, “Under these circumstances, the trial of the perpetrators of international crimes by a domestic mechanism, would be a travesty of justice as it would amount to the potentially guilty Government trying its own agents, thereby violating the prohibition in the maxim nemo iudex in sua causa.”