UN rights chief asks Sri Lanka to punish war criminals
COLOMBO - The United Nations human rights chief urged Sri Lanka on June 24 to ensure accountability for crimes committed during its protracted ethnic war.
Mr Volker Turk told a panel discussion in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo that the country must address the question of impunity during the Tamil separatist war, which was brought to a bloody conclusion in 2009.
The UN has estimated that 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by government forces in the final months of its battle to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels, who had fought for independence.
Successive Sri Lankan governments have resisted calls for internationally backed independent investigations into horrific rights abuses, while several high-profile massacres of civilians remain unresolved.
Mr Turk said that Sri Lanka is currently in an 'impunity trap', as the country emerges from an economic meltdown in 2022.
'It is... vital to hold to account the perpetrators of the most severe crimes,' he said.
'Vital for justice, vital for deterrence, vital for the victims who have suffered inconceivable pain and loss, and vital for the future.'
Sri Lanka is 'recovering from decades of division and violence, but also dealing with a deep economic crisis,' he added, referring to Sri Lanka's 2022 meltdown, which led to the toppling of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Mr Turk urged Sri Lanka to put an end to the 'paroxysms of violence', to work towards a shared understanding of the events, and to ensure justice is served.
Mr Turk is on a three-day visit to Sri Lanka, where he is due to meet with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and senior government ministers.
After initially agreeing with the UN Human Rights Council in 2015 to address war crimes – an emotionally charged topic in an ethnically divided nation – Sri Lanka's governments have since backtracked.
The leftist administration of Mr Dissanayake, who came to power in September with the overwhelming support of the Tamil minority, has yet to deliver on his pledges to ensure accountability for war crimes.
His government in March criticised Britain for sanctioning three top retired military commanders and a former Tamil guerrilla over human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and sexual violence.
The UN estimated that at least 100,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka's separatist conflict between 1972 and 2009. The fighting was brought to an end with the military launching a no-holds-barred offensive that wiped out the rebel leadership in May 2009. AFP
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