Ahimsa Wickrematunge complains to UN Human Rights Committee
COLOMBO: A daughter of a slain Sri Lankan journalist filed a complaint Friday with the UN Human Rights Committee over alleged government involvement in her father’s death 12 years ago, according to The Associated Press.
The San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability filed the complaint on behalf of Ahimsa Wickrematunge, the daughter of Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was allegedly killed by a military-linked hit squad while driving to work on Jan. 8, 2009, according to The Associated Press.
Wickrematunge, editor of the now-defunct Sunday Leader newspaper, was killed a few days before he was to testify in a defamation case over an article on a corruption scandal involving the purchase of fighter planes.
Wickrematunge’s assassination came to symbolize alleged government abuses and impunity during the country’s civil war.
It featured prominently in an investigation conducted by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2015.
Foreign Ministry Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colambage said he had not seen the complaint, and given its sensitive nature was unable to comment without ascertaining the view of the political leadership, according to The Associated Press.
On the day of his killing, Wickrematunge was followed by men on motorbikes, and when he stopped at a busy intersection they smashed his car window and punched a hole in his head with a sharp instrument.
The complaint says law enforcement agencies either failed to conduct a credible investigation or actively interfered with attempts to conduct one.
A new probe was initiated in 2015, but political infighting in the new government prevented a conclusion to the case.
There has been no progress in the investigation since late 2019.
The complaint requests that the Human Rights Committee ensure that Sri Lanka conducts an independent investigation, prosecutes those responsible, and apologizes to and compensates the Wickrematunge family.
The Human Rights Committee is a group of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.