Human rights violations by the LTTE and government forces in the Sri Lankan war

---

The Sri Lankan government is facing a new resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Commission calling for the perpetrators of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka's 26-year-old civil war to be held accountable and for justice to be served to the victims. Countries, including the United Kingdom, have released a draft of the resolution.

The draft is expected to be taken up for discussion at the end of a four-week spring session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. This spring meeting series begins in Geneva on Monday.

Both sides, the Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have been accused of atrocities during the war in Sri Lanka. At least 100,000 people were killed in the war.

Lord Ahmed, Britain's Joint Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth said, all communities affected by the Sri Lankan civil war are waiting for justice for their loved ones. They are facing the consequences and contradictions caused by the war.

Six countries, including Germany and Canada are key to Britain's involvement in Sri Lanka.

Lord Ahmed said the resolution was an important step forward for all ethnic groups and groups of different faiths in Sri Lanka to live in peace and harmony.

In the final phase of the war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government crushed the LTTE. The UN and other NGOs estimate that more than 40,000 people were killed in the final stages of the war.

It is also mentioned that most of them belong to the Tamil community. The UN Human Rights Commission has accused both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE of engaging in atrocities during the war.

Tens of thousands went missing during the war. Sri Lankan government forces have been blamed for the disappearances of Tamil people who surrendered or were captured by Sri Lankans who fought against the Sri Lankan government.

Since then, the families of Tamils ​​killed or missing have been demanding justice and those responsible. But the Sri Lankan government continues to deny allegations that it is responsible for the disappearance of the Tamil people.

Under international pressure, the Sri Lankan government agreed in 2015 to investigate war crimes and irregularities with foreign judges. It was initiated as part of a UN Human Rights Commission resolution.

But the current Sri Lankan president, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, withdrw from the UN Human Rights Council resolution in February 2020 after winning the election with a Sinhala majority. Gotabhaya Rajapakse reaffirmed to his supporters last year, I will put an end to the betrayal of Sri Lankan war heroes.

When Mahinda Rajapaksa was the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa led the Civil War from his strong position as Secretary of Defense. Gotabhaya denies allegations of war crimes in the name of his orders.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said, the Sri Lankan government is not opposed to accepting responsibility under Sri Lanka's constitution, but the Sri Lankan constitution does not provide for foreign judges to investigate. Almost 12 years after the end of the final war in Sri Lanka, peace and reconciliation efforts in Sri Lanka continue to fail. His report will be tabled at the UN General Assembly this week. The realities in Sri Lanka are different and the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is different. That is why the Sri Lankan government has rejected the Commissioner's report with proper evidence and detailed statements.

Under the current Sri Lankan government, human rights groups say activists seeking justice for wartime crimes are being threatened.

Bhavani Fonseka, a human rights lawyer, said, Surveillance is still high in the north and east of Sri Lanka, where there are still large numbers of Tamils. Sri Lankan security forces continue to infiltrate people's organizations. This is a form of harassment.

Earlier this month, thousands of Tamils, members of the Islamic and Christian communities, staged a large rally from the Eastern Province to the Northern Province. Despite the covid-19 barriers, they held this rally to express their problems.

The Islamists have complained about the government forcibly burning the bodies of coroners killed by the corona if members of the Tamil community fought for accountability for war crimes and for justice. They say this is against Islamic custom.

Sri Lankan Tamils ​​say the current government continues to systematically blunt peace and reconciliation efforts and hold war criminals accountable.

For example, last year President Rajapaksa granted a general amnesty to an army soldier named Sunil Ratnanayake. It is noteworthy that Sunil was sentenced to death in 2000 for the murder of eight civilians, including a five year old child and two teenagers, in 2000 in Mirusuvil, in the northern Jaffna region of Sri Lanka.

The UN General Assembly said the amnesty was an insult to war victims.

Asha Nagendran from Trincomalee said that justice now seems to be farther away than ever.

His son was taken away by the Sri Lankan security forces in 2008 for questioning. So far he has not received any information from his son.

Asha Nagendran said, the UN should not give the Sri Lankan government any more time. A panel of international representatives should be set up to investigate and resolve our plight.