Connect with us

News

Global Tamil Forum calls for strong resolution on Lanka

Published

3 years ago

on

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has called for a strong resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.Issuing a statement, the GTF said that for the Tamil people who have suffered enormously during the war, and indeed for the victims of human rights violations from all communities who are denied accountability and justice in Sri Lanka, the UNHRC has consistently provided much needed hope.

The role played by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is crucial in this regard. GTF expresses its sincere appreciation to Michelle Bachelet for her exemplary service as the High Commissioner till last month and welcomes the new High Commissioner Volker Turk in this important role.

It is clear from the High Commissioner’s report that the unprecedented economic crisis in Sri Lanka has its roots firmly in its long history of unaccountable governance associated with the ethnic conflict and war. The report argues that ‘deepening militarisation and lack of transparency and accountability in governance have embedded impunity for serious human rights violations and created an environment for corruption and the abuse of power.’ For the first time related to Sri Lanka, the UN review recommends ‘investigation of economic crimes that impact on human rights and the tracing and recovery of stolen assets.’

The High Commissioner’s report also recognises the opportunity provided by the economic crisis, to charter a new path spurred by broad-based demand by all communities for deeper reforms and accountability. And the report recommends ‘a more fundamental constitutional reform through broad-based consultative process to strengthen democratic checks and balances and devolution of political authority, which is integral to reconciliation and the full enjoyment of human rights by all members of its population.’

However, the report is highly critical of the hard-line approach taken by the Ranil Wickremesinghe government – including continued usage of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to detain student leaders and to continue to detain long-term Tamil and Muslim prisoners, despite years of promises to repeal, and rescinding on the recent commitment to a de facto moratorium on its use. And the report calls to immediately end the reliance on draconian security laws to crack down on peaceful protests, reverse the drift towards militarisation and to show renewed commitment to deliver on security sector reform and ending impunity.

The OHCHR report notes that in 2022, Defence was allocated 373.1 billion rupees (then US$1.86 billion), which accounted for 15 percent of total government expenditure, and this was more than double that allocated for Health. Such high defence expenditure in a country under major financial crisis and that too for defence activities disproportionately concentrated in the North-East where their actions only prevent return to normalcy, defies logic.

GTF would like to emphasise that the genesis (from 2009) and the continuing driver of the UNHRC process have been about addressing accountability for war time atrocities committed during the war and promoting reconciliation among all communities. It is in this aspect the High Commissioner’s report is more scathing. The Easter Bombing (2019) is now part of a long list of emblematic cases where truth seeking has been intentionally made impossible.

The OHCHR report unambiguously states, ‘The Sri Lankan state, through successive governments, has consistently failed to pursue an effective Transitional Justice process to hold perpetrators to account and to uphold victims’ rights to truth, justice, and reparation. Rather, they have created political obstacles to accountability and actively promoted and incorporated some military officials credibly implicated in war crimes in the highest levels of government.’

The report identifies that even the tokenistic initiatives from the government, such as the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), has lost the confidence and trust of the relatives of victims, following a series of problematic appointments to the Chairperson and Commissioners. In effect, the OMP has not been able to trace a single disappeared person or clarified the fate of the disappeared in meaningful ways and it is focussed on expeditiously closing the files and issuing families with ‘Certificates of Absence’.

The High Commissioner’s report calls Sri Lanka to ‘re-launch a comprehensive, victim-centred strategy on Transitional Justice and accountability, to establish credible truth seeking mechanism and ad hoc special court’. This statement is unambiguous in that as per the view of the OHCHR, after 13 years of solemn promises and commitments to its citizens and to the international community, the accountability project within Sri Lanka has reached the dead end.

In reality, Sri Lanka went through many distinct phases in its dealing with war related accountability issues – outright denials initially; followed by half-hearted actions and perceived cooperation through internal investigations and co-sponsorships of UNHRC resolutions; and finally playing for time hoping that the issue will disappear. But it is to the credit of the international community, the core group of countries, the NGOs and the United Nations system that their focus never wavered. In fact, there has been progressive ramping of up of initiatives – Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka (2011); Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on United Nations Action in Sri Lanka (2012); OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (2015) and the OHCHR Accountability Project as per the Resolution 46/1, Paragraph 6 (2021).

The High Commissioner’s report states that the OHCHR Accountability Project is fully staffed and operational since May and is focussed on four tracks – “Collecting, consolidating, analysing and preserving information and evidence”; “Developing possible strategies for further accountability processes”; “Advocating for victims and survivors” and “Supporting relevant judicial and other proceedings”. It is pleasing to note that the OHCHR has received requests from national authorities for information and evidence related to eight individuals, as well as a number of alleged violations, and we strongly support High Commissioner’s call for ‘renewing the mandate and reinforcing the capacity of OHCHR for its specialised accountability project’.

It is important to note that that the time has arrived to explore further options for advancing accountability in Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner’s report refers to communications submitted in October and November 2021 to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requesting that the Prosecutor exercise jurisdiction over alleged crimes occurred partially on the territory of States Parties (to the Rome Statute).

The report calls on ‘states to cooperate in accountability efforts, including available avenues of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes under international law’ and ‘to explore further measures including targeted sanctions, restrictive measures and travel bans in relation to those who are credibly implicated in serious crimes.’

It is in this context the international community needs to view the announcement by the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabri that the Ranil Wickremesinghe government would not agree to any external mechanism and looking for internal truth seeking arrangements within the framework of Sri Lankan constitution. After 13 years of dithering and deceiving, and co-sponsoring resolutions (30/1, 34/1) which called for establishing hybrid court with international participation, that too by a government when Ranil Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister, Sri Lanka now wants to go back to square one and start all over again. The absurdity of this proposition will not be lost on any keen observer of Sri Lanka.

We also thank India for comments during the Interactive Dialogue on Sri Lanka: Indian delegation notes with concern the lack of measurable progress by Government of Sri Lanka on their commitments of a political solution to the ethnic issue — through full implementation of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, delegation of powers to Provincial Councils and holding of Provincial Council elections at the earliest. The HRC process should facilitate devolution of political authority to the North and East provinces building up on the 13th Amendment and finding a lasting political solution to ensure non-recurrence of the violent past.

GTF is of the view that Sri Lanka is at crossroads. The nascent transformation Sri Lanka presently undergoing is significant and there is a developing environment where an unaccountable government will be under increased scrutiny. In addition to wartime accountability, legal, financial, and other governance accountabilities are also under intense focus. Unfortunately, many of the recent actions by the Ranil Wickremasinghe government are not conducive to promote this healthy development. Irrespective of that, this emerging trend needs to be conscientiously promoted by the international community, which is possible only by adopting a well-targeted UNHRC resolution. The new resolution needs to build on the key aspects of the March 2021 UNHRC resolution (A/HRC/RES/46/1) and mirror the comprehensive set of recommendations listed in the High Commissioner’s reports of February and September 2022. GTF is of the view that the reports mandated in the proposed resolution should be transmitted to all relevant United Nations Bodies and the Secretary-General for appropriate action.

The GTF also fully endorsed the request by Human Rights Watch and 3 other NGOs calling the HRC to adopt a Resolution that: Strengthens the mandate for monitoring and reporting, by establishing an expert mechanism to monitor and report (both to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly) on the current rights situation in Sri Lanka and make concrete recommendations to ensure the protection and realization of rights. It is also the responsibility of the Member States including the Core Group of Sri Lanka to adequately fund the increased scope and capacity of the Sri Lanka Accountability Project throughout the new period envisaged in the Resolution.


Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Cabinet nod to implement ‘Suraksha’ Student Insurance Programme in the year 2025 / 26

Published

10 hours ago

on

2025/12/23

By

The Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education has entered into agreements with Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation General Limited to execute the Suraksha Student Insurance programme which is implemented with the objective of facilitating to maintain student education activities of students who experience disturbances to education due to numerous health issues without any interruption.

From this, approximately 40 lacks of students educated in government schools, government approved private schools, Pirivena and assisted special schools are covered under health
insurance, accident coverage, and life insurance categories.

Considering the issues recognized when implementing this programme, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the particulars furnished by the Prime Minister in her capacity in the post of the Minister of Education, Higher Education and
Vocational Education that the ‘Suraksha’ Student Insurance Programme for the year 2025 / 2026 will be implemented including the following amendments and thereby actions will be taken to issue relevant circular instructions.

• Implementation of ‘Suraksha’ Student Insurance Programme until 31.08.2026 in relation to the year 2025 / 2026

• Amendment of the annual income of low income category considered at granting parent death benefit from rupees 180,000/- to rupees 240,000/-

• Granting benefit up to rupees 75,000/- for the Scoliosis Brace which is used for correcting distortion of the spinal code and Cochlea Equipment.

• Granting benefits up to rupees Rs. 20,000/- for students those who are taking medicine for longer periods for ailments in the category of critical illness category and another 07 identified ailments.

• Adding 05 more ailments as Pneumothorax, Encephalitis, Thalassemia, Hereditary Spherocytosis and Sickle Cell Anemia which are in the critical ailment category.

• From 01.09.2025, providing opportunity to handover the claim applications for obtaining benefits to any regional office of Sri Lanka Insurance General Limited.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Establishment of Consultancy Boards for strengthening and promoting local production industries.

Published

11 hours ago

on

2025/12/23

By

20 Consultancy Boards have been established by now covering the production industries field with the objective of minimizing the policy issues in industries and entrepreneurship development.

It has been recognized the requirement of establishing consultancy committees for another 07 special industry sectors that are not covered by the aforementioned consultancy committees.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal furnished by the Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development to establish Consultancy Committees for the following industry sectors comprised of not
more than 25 members representing experts in the state institutions, commercial boards / assemblies, institutions (Universities and Research Institutions) and experts in the respective industries sector.

• Indigenous medicine and traditional / hereditary medical sector

• Confectionaries related production industries sector

• Traditional handicraft industries sector

• Chicken related industries sector

• Ornamental fish and sea weed related industries sector

• Creative craft related industries sector

• Event management sector

Continue Reading

News

National progress can be achieved only when everyone fulfills the responsibilities entrusted to them with steadfast determination, unity of purpose and resilience in the face of any challenge – President

Published

13 hours ago

on

2025/12/23

By

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated that national progress cannot be achieved through suspicion and mistrust of one another, but only when everyone fulfills the responsibilities entrusted to them with steadfast determination, unity of purpose and resilience in the face of any challenge.

The President pointed out that by properly fulfilling the responsibilities entrusted to the President and the Government, to religious institutions, to the people and to the security forces, it is possible to swiftly rebuild the motherland with the pride and dignity that once belonged to us in history. The President invited everyone to work together towards this goal.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake made these remarks on Saturday (21)   morning while attending as the Chief Guest at the Commissioning and Passing Out Parade of cadet officers at the Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyatalawa.

While noting that Sri Lanka possesses a proud heritage and a history of victories, the President stated that the country has suffered multiple forms of decline over the past few decades. He added that the responsibility entrusted to everyone today is to transform the motherland once again into a state that commands high value and respect on the global stage.

The President stated that, as President and as a government, he would do his best to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to him in rebuilding the nation. He further noted that the Government is fulfilling its responsibility to rebuild the economy and establish the necessary mechanisms for it, to strengthen the rule of law and to transform politics from a profession that amasses public wealth into one that serves the people.

Commander-in-Chief President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who arrived at the Diyatalawa Military Academy, was received with full military honours.

This marked the 100th Passing Out Parade of the Diyatalawa Military Academy, the Army’s premier officer training institution that has produced heroic leaders for both the nation and the Sri Lanka Army. A total of 240 cadet officers belonging to Regular Cadet Courses Nos. 93 and 94B, Short Course No. 23, Regular Course No. 62 and Volunteer Female Cadet Course No. 19 were commissioned into the Army following successful military training. Notably, this group also included eight foreign cadet officers.

The Commander-in-Chief, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake inspected the Passing Out Parade of the cadet officers and presented the Championship Colours to the best cadet squad, swords to the commissioned officers and Presidential Merit Awards to the officers who secured first place in their respective courses.

Addressing the gathering, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake further stated that the role played by the Army for the country and its people during every difficult situation is commendable and he expressed special appreciation for the outstanding service rendered in rescuing civilians and providing assistance during the recent cyclone.

Addressing the Passing Out Parade, the Commander-in-Chief, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, further stated;

“Having entered the Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyatalawa as cadet officers and received internationally recognised training and education, you are being commissioned today. I believe this will be a very special moment in your lives. I wish you every success as you move forward in your professional careers and strive to achieve your future aspirations and hopes.

At this moment, your parents are watching you. From your early childhood, they wished for a good future for their children. Today is a special moment for them to feel proud of you. Seeing their child standing before them, bearing the responsibility of the motherland and holding the honoured sword of the Army in their hands, is a source of immense pride. Today, you have given your parents the highest respect and recognition they deserve.

I am confident that you will fulfill your parents’ hopes and expectations and lead a meaningful life while safeguarding the dignity and value inherent in this profession.
Your senior officers are also watching you. Through great sacrifice and by enduring challenging periods, they have preserved the honour, value and professionalism of the Sri Lanka Army.

Under their supervision and proper guidance, you have received your training and are being commissioned today. The Commander of the Army and the senior officers are observing you with expectation, hoping that you will continue to uphold and protect the honour and values they brought to this profession.

The Government, I as President, and our motherland place great expectations upon you. Our country has faced many challenges during different periods. In overcoming those challenges; your senior officers have sacrificed their lives for the security, peace and people of this motherland. You stand today on soil sanctified by those who sacrificed their lives in heroic struggles to liberate our motherland.

Therefore, an inescapable responsibility rests upon all of us. As members of the Sri Lanka Army, you bear an irrevocable duty to ensure the security of our motherland and its people. We place our trust and hope in you. Our country faced a major disaster due to the cyclone and civilian life was completely disrupted. Providing food to certain communities became extremely difficult and rescuing some lives posed significant challenges. From that day to this, the Sri Lanka Army has played a major role in confronting every challenge. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to them.

Members of the armed forces are engaged in extremely demanding tasks, making great efforts to restore normalcy to civilian life. The responsibility placed upon you is not merely that of a profession. There are many different professions and your friends are engaged in various occupations. Each of those professions carries its own responsibility and values. However, I believe that you have been entrusted with exceptionally high values and a tremendous responsibility rests upon your shoulders.
We must rebuild our motherland. From many directions, our country has faced serious threats. There was a period when the state machinery weakened and collapsed and another when the economy was severely challenged and deteriorated. There was a time when social wellbeing completely eroded. Human relationships began to lose their value. Relationships between parents and children began to break down. Relationships between teachers and students began to deteriorate. Relationships between religious institutions and their congregations began to weaken. Our country was moving towards becoming a state where all human relationships had broken down.

Now, the responsibility entrusted to us is to transform this motherland into a state that commands high values and recognition in the world. Similar responsibilities are entrusted to you as well. This country cannot be taken forward by working against one another or by acting with suspicion and mistrust. As a nation, we can progress only if all of us act with firm determination to properly fulfil the responsibilities entrusted to us. I pledge to you that, as a state, we will utilise the responsibilities entrusted to us to rebuild this nation.

I invite everyone to work together towards this goal.”

Deputy Minister of Defence Aruna Jayasekara; Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Air Vice Marshal (Retired) Sampath Thuyacontha; Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Lasantha Rodrigo; Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda; Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Vasu Bandu Edirisinghe; and Inspector General of Police, Attorney-at-Law Priyantha Weerasuriya, along with the Commandant of the Sri Lanka Military Academy, Major General M.J.R.N. Medagoda, defence coordination officers, senior Army officers, and the parents of the graduating cadet officers, were among those present on the occasion.

Continue Reading

Trending