• Mechanism must be domestic' says Sri Lankan president

    Oct 01
    Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday reiterated that a justice mechanism aimed at delivering accountability for the war crimes and crimes against humanity documented in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) must be domestic.

    In an interview to the New York Times, Mr Sirisena, who was in New York addressing the UN General Assembly, said, "the mechanism must be domestic".

    The paper further quoted a presidential aide as saying that "Sri Lanka does not allow foreign lawyers to practice in its courts", and that "it was not possible for the country to set up a new international court without amending the Constitution, which would be extremely difficult politically."

  • Sri Lanka says it is ready to begin consultations
    Sri Lanka's ambassador to Geneva said the country was ready to begin consultations towards establishing a justice mechanism.

    "We are eager to commence wide ranging consultations for this purpose as soon as possible in a manner to expand the ownership of its content by all stakeholders," he told the UN Human Rights Council as the resolution on accountability in Sri Lanka was adopted by the Council.

    "My delegation looks forward to join the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report the progress made on the ground, as requested in the resolution, in time to come," he added.

  • India reiterates need for meaningful devolution of political authority in Sri Lanka
    Addressing the UN Human Rights Council at the adoption of a consensus resolution on accountability in Sri Lanka, India reiterated the need for meaningful devolution of political authority.

    "As Sri Lanka's closest neighbour, India cannot remain untouched by developments in that country," India's ambassador to Geneva said on Thursday.

    "India has always supported efforts to preserve Sri Lanka's character as a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious society in which all citizens, including the Sri Lankan Tamil community, can live in equality, safety and harmony, and prosper and fulfil their aspirations within a united Sri Lanka."

    "Towards this direction, we reiterate our firm belief that the meaningful devolution of political authority through the implementation of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of Sri Lanka and building upon it would greatly help the process of national reconciliation in Sri Lanka."

  • Tamil diaspora critical for meaningful dialogue on Sri Lanka says South Africa
    Addressing the UN Human Rights Council at the adoption of a consensus resolution on accountability in Sri Lanka, South Africa reiterated the importance of meaningful dialogue in order to achieve reconciliation, adding that "the Tamil Diaspora remains an important constituency and its support is critical in fostering a real and meaningful dialogue."

    "While there is recognition of the positive step taken, the High Commissioner’s report also highlights the endemic violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law including the lack of credibility in Sri Lanka’s domestic mechanism," South Africa said.

    "South Africa believes that the establishment of a credible domestic mechanism on accountability, truth telling and reconciliation must be underpinned by sincere political dialogue process between all concerned parties, which includes the Singhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities to bring about a lasting political solution and the achievement of sustainable peace for the people of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Diaspora remains an important constituency and its support is critical in fostering a real and meaningful dialogue."

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister urges Modi to wage ‘strong diplomatic offensive’ on Sri Lanka

    The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa urged the Indian Prime Minister to “wage a strong diplomatic offensive to uphold the rights and interests of our Indian fishermen”.

  • Sri Lanka must ‘undertake a difficult but essential journey’ - US
    The United States said the goal of the recently passed resolution at the UN Human Rights Council is to “to help Sri Lanka undertake a difficult but essential journey”.

    Ambassador Keith Harper told the council the resolution “seeks to support Sri Lanka’s path to lasting peace, built on a foundation of justice and accountability”.

    “The goal of this resolution—and of our efforts here in Geneva—is to help Sri Lanka undertake a difficult but essential journey,” he said. “And, we welcome that this resolution recognizes the critical role of continued OHCHR engagement.”
  • Sri Lankan ambassador had government approval for interventions at UN HRC

    The Sri Lankan foreign ministry has confirmed that Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council spoke with government approval, when delivering interventions at discussions regarding the resolution last week.

  • Resolution 'crucial step' in ensuring accountability - David Cameron

    Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said the resolution on Sri Lanka, passed at the Human Rights Council on Thursday, was a "crucial step" towards uncovering the truth about alleged war crimes and ensuring accountability.

    In a statement released on Friday, Mr Cameron pledged Britain's commitment to stand up for those affected by the armed conflict.

    The prime minister welcomed Sri Lanka's commitment to ensuring perpetrators of war crimes are held to account and encouraged the government to continue working with the UN.

  • ‘Proof of change will come in how Sri Lanka treats most vulnerable victims’
    The proof of change in Sri Lanka following the passing of a UN resolution this week, will come in how it treats survivors of sexual violence, wrote Nimmi Gowrinathan and Kate Cronin-Furman.

    Writing in the Washington Post, they said “for the victim community, and their advocates,” the passing of the resolution is “not unambiguously cause for celebration”.
    “Even as the members of the Council commended Sri Lanka’s government for re-engaging with the international community, domestic civil society groups and international rights activists challenged the vagueness of the resolution’s call for Sri Lanka to ensure a “credible justice process”,” they said.

    “Sri Lanka has a long history of domestic commissions of inquiry that function as impressive political theatre but have limited capacity to provide redress. The acceptance of a (yet to be specified) role for international experts and the passage of a victims and witnesses protection act are encouraging signs that the new government intends to break with this tradition and embark upon a genuine transitional justice process. But the proof of a change will come in how Sri Lanka treats the most vulnerable victims of the long conflict – those who have survived sexual violence.”
  • SLFP 'salutes' Maithri for saving Sri Lanka from imperialist trap

  • International scrutiny will be central in what happens next - Callum Macrae
    Writing for Channel 4 news, the No Fire Zone documentary director, Callum Macrae, said that victims and human rights organisations will expect to see real measurable progress in Sri Lanka on the implementation of the UNHRC resolution.
  • International component crucial for credible accountability in Sri Lanka - Amnesty
    Highlighting that international judges, defence lawyers, prosecutors and investigators were crucial for a credible accountability process, Amnesty International welcomed the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka as an “opportunity” for justice if “the resolution and underlying commitments of Sri Lanka’s government are implemented in good faith,” said Amnesty International in a press release on Thursday.
  • Sri Lanka will ‘fruitfully’ share experience on 'eliminating terrorism' says president

    Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena told the United Nations that his government had “succeeded in eliminating terrorism” and was willing to share their experience with other countries.

    Addressing the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Mr Sirisena said:

    “Sri Lanka succeeded in eliminating terrorism, which continues to throttle other developing countries extending from Asia to Africa and Latin America".

    “We defeated one of the world's most ruthless terror outfits,” added Mr Sirisena.

    “We believe that all these experiences can be shared fruitfully with other developing countries affected by terrorism,” he said. “Sri Lanka remains prepared to engage in a more active dialogue with these countries and will continue to speak and advocate against terrorism.”

  • Military division accused of war crimes hands out spectacles in North-East

    A Sri Lankan army division accused of war crimes handed out spectacles to Tamil civilians last weekend, whilst another division held an eye clinic in the North-East.

    On Saturday September 26, military officials handed out glasses to Tamil civilians at a ceremony in Kilinochchi, in a project coordinated by the 57 Division and 571 Brigade.

    The 57 Division was led by Major General Jagath Dias during the final stages of the armed conflict, which saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed. Maj Gen Dias, who was recently promoted by Sri Lanka’s new government, stands accused of commanding war crimes that the division committed.


    Meanwhile in Mullaitivu on Sunday September 27, Army personnel from the 59, 64 and 68 Divisional areas, held an eye clinic at the Sillawatte Tamil College , in a project supervised by the 591 Brigade Commander.
  • NGOs call for internationalised accountability process and monitoring of ongoing violations against victim Tamil community in Sri Lanka
    Non-Governmental Organisations stressed the importance of ongoing monitoring in Sri Lanka, an internationalised judicial process for accountability, ending ongoing violations against the majority victim Tamil community and seeking a lasting political solution during the general debate on the OISL report into Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

    Addressing member states of the UNHRC during the debate, United Nations Watch condemning the ongoing “oppression of the Tamils” in Sri Lanka, called on the new government to “end impunity” and deliver a credible process for reconciliation and accountability.
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