An Internal War Crimes Inquiry Will Be A Farce

By Rajasingham Jayadevan -February 8, 2015

Rajasingham Jayadevan

Sri Lanka is on the international agenda on war crimes and serious post war human rights violations. Until the election of the new President Maithiripala Sirisena, the Government of Sri Lanka was on a head on coalition with the United Nation and the west to cover-up its conduct and was hell-bent to undermine the UN efforts on war crimes investigations.

Sri Lanka is a party to the international law and treaties and as a legally constituted state, is answerable to the atrocities it committed during the internal war. The outgoing government was uncooperative and wilfully absconded by its intemperate behaviour leaving the UNHRC to proceed with an investigation on its own without the co-operation of the Sri Lanka government.

Sri Lanka failed to implement its own post war Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Committee report on crucial issues and fragrantly extended a democratic dictatorship that emboldened the anti-minority hatred in a calculated and systematic manner. The entire security mechanism and the propping up of right wing Sinhala Buddhist hatred kept the outgoing government live and kicking until its demise. With the hyphened paranoia of war victory, Mahinda Rajapakse thought he is indispensable and could extend his regime indefinitely and his decision to call the Presidential election back fired on him.

With the defeat in the election, Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa have even lost their diplomatic immunity and have become ordinary citizens without absolute legal safeguards. Both are now in the hell holes, unless the new government bestow them with the protection against international efforts. The present government’s stance on the internal inquiry is a big respite for the former President and those who discharged war crimes under his military hierarchy.

The new government’s decision on the internal inquiry on war crimes with the help of the UN is not without any constraints. A matter that needs international process, though encouraged to be carried out locally (thus abiding by local laws) will not deliver fair justice when local laws are impediment to any justice being delivered against the perpetrators of war crimes and serious human rights violations.Read More