The UN has moved ahead with prosecuting the Sri Lanka Government on Monday, by publishing the Navi Pillai Report UNHRC Commissioner on the Killing of the Tamils in SriLanka.
Extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary killings
- The High Commissioner and several special procedures mandate holders continued to follow developments in recent cases in which the apparent excessive use of force led to the death of unarmed protesters or of prison inmates. On 1 August 2013, approximately 6,000 residents of Weliweriya, a small suburb of Colombo, protested against the State’s failure to address community concerns about the contamination of their drinking water supply by a local factory. Army personnel were deployed in support of the police to control the protest, which had turned violent and reportedly used excessive force, leaving three people dead and many others with critical injuries.[1] On 2 August 2013, the Army Commander appointed a military court of inquiry into the incident. The court submitted its report on 21 August, but it has not been made public. On 30 August 2013, the Army announced that four senior officers had been relieved of their duties with immediate effect, although no court martial has been initiated.[2] The factory has since been relocated and compensation offered to the families of those killed.
- On 12 November 2012, the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms appointed a committee to inquire into events in Welikada prison on 9 November 2012, when Special Task Force personnel conducted a search operation and army personnel subsequently intervened to control a riot; at least 27 inmates were killed and 43 injured.[3] The committee handed over its report to the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms on 15 January 2014, but it has not been published. According to media reports, it concludes that the prisoners shot each other. The Government informed the High Commissioner that a similar inquiry had been carried out into custodial deaths when security forces had stormed Vavuniya prison to free officials taken hostage by prisoners in June 2012, which was highlighted in her previous report,[4] but to date no report has been made public.
D. Mass graves
- On 26 November 2012, a mass grave with approximately 155 skeletal remains was uncovered in Matale, central Sri Lanka. In June 2013, a presidential commission of inquiry was appointed to probe the circumstances surrounding the gravesite, despite the initiation of a judicial process in the Matale Magistrate’s Court. There are concerns regarding the manner in which the remains are being preserved, the protection of the site and the investigation process.[5] In December 2013, it was reported that another gravesite with 52 skeletal remains, including of children, was discovered in Mannar, northern Sri Lanka.
- It is vital that the integrity of the sites, and exhumation and identification procedures, be given due attention. The rights of families to know the fate of their missing loved ones is critical, and they must be actively involved in the legal and humanitarian efforts to locate, exhume, rebury and memorialize the dead. In this context, an uncompromised exhumation and investigation process is essential, and could benefit from international assistance.
[1] See Human Rights Watch, “Sri Lanka: Investigate ‘Clean Water’ Protest Deaths”, 9 August 2013, available from http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/09/sri-lanka-investigate-clean-water-protest-deaths; and Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, press communiqué, 30 August 2013, available from http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Press_Communique_Weliweriya_Incident_20130830_03.
[2] See Ministry of Defence press communiqué (see footnote 13).
[3] Centre for Policy Alternatives, “A List of Commissions of Inquiry and Committees Appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka (2006-2012)”, 12 March 2012, available from http://www.cpalanka.org/a-list-of-commissions-of-inquiry-and-committees-appointed-by-the-government-of-sri-lanka-2006-2012/.
[5] For instance, the Matale magistrate overseeing the inquiry was subsequently transferred – according to the Government, on disciplinary grounds – to Colombo.
Full Report.
http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf
Image Credit.
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may102011/tamil-genocide.php
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