Lanka’s new transitional justice process lacks credibility
The Sri Lankan government’s proposed law to create another body to investigate wartime abuses replicates previous failed efforts, ignores the needs of victims, and falls far short of meeting Sri Lanka’s international legal obligations, Human Rights Watch said.
In a statement, Human Rights Watch claimed that “Sri Lankan authorities continue to silence and repress families of victims and their communities 15 years after the armed conflict ended”.
The Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka Bill was published on January 1, 2024, following limited consultations in 2023 and government pledges to investigate human rights violations and war crimes committed during the 1983-2009 civil war with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and in its aftermath.
It excludes widespread abuses committed during the left-wing Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) uprising of 1988-1990. Instead of providing truth, justice, and redress, the proposed law appears designed to deflect international pressure over the lack of accountability for atrocity crimes and to persuade the United Nations Human Rights Council to end its scrutiny of Sri Lanka.
“A credible truth and justice process is desperately needed in Sri Lanka, where wartime abuses resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and enforced disappearances,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“However, the government’s continuing repression of victim communities and its protection of alleged perpetrators shows a lack of will to deliver justice, ensuring that this commission will fare no better than previous ones.”
The bill states that the new commission would produce a “truthful record” of violations committed during the war, make recommendations on reparations, and propose measures to prevent a recurrence.
While the commission would also be able “to refer matters to the relevant law enforcement or prosecuting authorities … for further investigation and necessary action,” those authorities are already supposed to take up such cases, but routinely fail to do so. Successive Sri Lankan governments have blocked investigations, stalled trials, and silenced victims, in violation of international legal obligations to prosecute or extradite people responsible for serious crimes.
Since the 1990s, the government has created at least 10 similar commissions, at leave five of which have concluded reports.
Many victims say they have “commission fatigue” and see no use in testifying again, risking re-traumatization and possible threats from the security forces with no expectation of justice and redress.