An event hosted by NGOs on the sidelines of the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council examined issues of gender based violence in an ethnocracy, in the context of Sri Lanka.

The event, hosted by the Society of Threatened Peoples (STP), Tamils against Genocide (TAG), TRIAL, The Sentinel Project, CNRJ and Sri Lanka Advocacy, started with a statement by Kelebone Skelemani, read out by the moderator of the panel, Theodor Rathgeber. Others on the panel were Jan Jananayagam of TAG, Angela Mattli of STP, Anna Gall of the European Centre for Constitutional Rights, and Ananthy Sasitharan, a TNA councillor in the northern province of Sri Lanka.

Ms. Skelemani, the former Deputy Permanent Secretary in the ministries of health, trade and home affairs in Botswana, said the debate “Sri Lanka: Torture, Sexual Violence in a context of Ethnicity and Failed Domestic Processes”, came at an “opportune time”, as it complemented the ongoing efforts by the UN to find a permanent solution to problems facing Sri Lanka.

“The report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights […] concludes, among others, that human rights violations in Sri Lanka continue unabated,” she said.

“The same report also concludes that even where the Government has launched initiatives and established mechanisms such as military courts of enquiry, the initiatives lack independence to be effective and to inspire confidence.”

Two of the three activists detained in Kilinochchi, Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen were reportedly released late last night.

Whilst government reports have alleged the two were released on bail, the prominent Sri Lankan human rights activist, Ruki Fernando accused the government of spreading false information in order to prevent them from traveling abroad.

Speaking to the Uthayan on his release, Mr. Fernando said,

"Although we were released unconditionally, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims we are released on bail. This is false information. The Foreign Affairs Ministry released such info to prevent us from traveling abroad and telling the truth. Although we are released, a veiled threat continues against us."

"From our experience we know that no amount of time will allow truth, justice and accountability to be established domestically so long as rule of law is subverted and an environment of human rights abuse and impunity prevails. In such circumstances, pursuant to its mandate to address violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, the Council must lose no time in instituting an international mechanism to independently investigate allegations of serious violations in Sri Lanka."

Picture: Tamil Guardian

A side-event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva saw first-hand testimony from Dr Varatharajah Thurairajah, one of the doctors active in the No Fire Zone, in the last phase of the armed conflict.

The event, moderated by Julie de Rivero of Human Rights Watch, had Dr Varatharajah, the director of the No Fire Zone movie Callum Macrae, Edward Santow of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Charu Lata Hogg of Child Soldiers International.

Callum Macrae presented a short extract of the No Fire Zone movie, which included footage of Dr Varatharajah in the aftermath of attacks on hospitals in 2009.

Varatharajah detailed the incidents of government attacks on the hospital, which intensified once coordinates were passed to the government through the Red Cross. The doctor said that they were then scared to pass on GPS coordinates to the Red Cross as the shells landed very soon after the details were passed on.