Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported On Tuesday, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake delayed prosecution of past serious violations, drawing sharp criticism from human rights groups and victims’ families, many of whom have yet to receive proper compensation for their losses.
Sri Lanka is at a point of discussion in human rights circles Excavations take place in Chemmani, a town on the Jaffna Peninsula. President Dissanyake led a campaign to bring peace to the families of people who were victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during the civil war 26 years ago. The excavation was delayed due to funding and weather, and speed became a point of contention for citizens, which only increased the distrust they had of their government.
From 1987 to 1989, tens of thousands of people were murdered, tortured and kidnapped during the civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Sri Lankan government Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Since then, ten different commissions have failed to bring justice to the individuals and families who suffered these serious abuses.
The serious abuses The cases mentioned by HRW include over 100,000 deaths. Government forces used torture, rape, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. The LTTE has been linked to suicide attacks, mass executions and the use of child soldiers.
The government of Sri Lanka also did not accept this Sri Lanka Accountability Projectwhich enables the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to “collect, consolidate, analyze and preserve information and evidence and develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for gross human rights violations or serious violations of international humanitarian law…”
Furthermore, the Dissanayake government did not set this up Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP)despite President Dissanayake’s promise to establish a DPP to avoid delays due to other government responsibilities.
The UN Human Rights Council, as part of the 2011 report of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts, conducted several investigations that found extensive war crimes and other abuses occurred on both sides during the civil war, with few brought to justice.
In August, UN experts began calling for more government action and accountability after 20 years passed since the execution of the 17 humanitarian workers. This follows reports of torture and violence in the country’s prison system, which resulted in the deaths of 28 inmates. Local advocacy groups like the Committee to Protect the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) say the problem is new but equally lacking Government Accountability citizens have criticized in the past.
