Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on foreign governments to promote accountability in Sri Lanka through targeted sanctions, criminal investigations, and prosecutions, in the wake of a new report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). which documents the widespread and systematic use of conflict-related sexual violence by Sri Lankan state forces.
The report, which was released earlier this month, documents the widespread and systematic use of conflict-related sexual violence by Sri Lankan state forces. It concluded that these violations were not isolated acts but formed part of a “widespread and systemic pattern”.
The report states that sexual violence was employed “as a strategic tool to extract information, assert dominance, intimidate individuals and communities, and instill a pervasive climate of fear and humiliation”.
"While the appalling rape and murder of Tamil women by Sri Lankan soldiers at the war’s end has long been known, the UN report shows that systematic sexual abuse was ignored, concealed, and even justified by Sri Lankan governments unwilling to punish those responsible,” HRW’s Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly said.
“Sri Lanka’s international partners need to step up their efforts to promote accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka.”
Ganguly goes on to add that foreign governments should provide support for legal processes, better vetting of military personnel for peacekeeping missions, and concerted efforts to bring criminal cases abroad under universal jurisdiction.
Tamil victim-survivors and civil society activists have been calling for international accountability for the crimes committed by Sri Lanka's forces throughout the armed conflict but particularly in the final months where civilians were trapped in government designated 'No Fire Zones'.