Stop-Torture-Report
Stop-Torture-Report Stop-Torture-Report
- That there be no statute of limitations in relation to the crimes. - That no head of state secures immunity from prosecution. - That the right to reparations for victims be legislated. Squandered Opportunities The Human Rights Council in March this year deferred the OHCHR report in order to provide the new Sirisena government an opportunity to put in place measures to address ongoing violations and accountability for violations committed during the final phase of the war. The new government also committed itself to establishing an appropriate transitional justice programme in consultation with victims so as to address impunity and deal with accountability. An appropriate transitional justice programme has the potential to rebuild the trust of citizens in the institutions of the state. However these steps have either not been taken at all or not taken effectively. Measures should have included law reform ensuring the independence of the Judiciary, the office of Attorney General and the prosecutorial services. The witness protection act should have been revised so as to properly afford victims and witnesses protection if they came forward to testify. Sadly the new government has not addressed impunity, which is rife in the country and squandering good will and opportunity. Frankly victims do not trust the state and its institutions. Reconciliation Ultimately reconciliation is about finding ways for people to live together without fear, where the state has restored their rights as citizens, and where equality and right to freedom are entrenched and respected irrespective of religious beliefs or ethnic identity or which side of the political spectrum one comes from. Reconciliation, while a worthy aspiration, cannot be embarked upon while a campaign of persecution is still underway and impunity continues unabated. This is a still unfinished war. 128
VI. Recommendations Call to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, ICC Prosecutor, SRSG on Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict, and the Donor and International Community: In accordance with the UN’s zero tolerance policy for sexual abuse and as a preventative measure as set out in the Secretary General’s report in March 2014 85 , and in the light of the credible allegations of torture, rape and sexual violence committed in the period following the end of the conflict in 2009 set out in this report and our previous report, we call upon the UN Security Council to refer both reports, which indicate reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity are occurring in Sri Lanka, to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for further action against those who bear the greatest responsibility. Alternatively, we urge the ICC Prosecutor to explore the cases of individuals who bear the greatest responsibility. We also call upon States who are signatories to the Rome Statute to refer these cases to the ICC Prosecutor urging her to open a file. Second, we call upon the Secretary General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict and the Special Rapporteur on Torture to arrange a visit to Sri Lanka and initiate a special inquiry into rape and sexual violence with the mandate to report back to the relevant UN bodies on the allegations raised in this report. Third, we call upon the UN Department of Peace-Keeping Operations to immediately suspend Sri Lankan police and military involvement in UN peacekeeping missions, pending an independent international inquiry into allegations of current, systematic and widespread sexual abuse by the security 85 UNSC, Conflict-related sexual violence, S/2015/203, 23 March 2015. 129
- Page 77 and 78: Case Study 3: Secret Torture Site:
- Page 79 and 80: including to the navy who denied an
- Page 81 and 82: Two recent media reports refer to a
- Page 83 and 84: At the Embassies in some overseas c
- Page 85 and 86: “There were reports that authorit
- Page 87 and 88: However, in the majority of cases w
- Page 89 and 90: 2009 to document and keep tabs on a
- Page 91 and 92: Many witnesses told us that the sec
- Page 93 and 94: “In every letter my mum has menti
- Page 95 and 96: to attend the opening ceremony. The
- Page 97 and 98: as a result of the PM's visit, neit
- Page 99 and 100: stop. The petrol bag was repeated t
- Page 101 and 102: close members of her family abducte
- Page 103 and 104: The Extensive Use of Informers Many
- Page 105 and 106: the Tamil collaborators they encoun
- Page 107 and 108: these orders. Several have given tr
- Page 109 and 110: Persecution of Family Members One o
- Page 111 and 112: “Around 4 people on a motorbike c
- Page 113 and 114: “Military intelligence has come t
- Page 115 and 116: much she had to be taken to hospita
- Page 117 and 118: (Witness 91, speaking in 2015) Ther
- Page 119 and 120: “Since I left Sri Lanka the CID a
- Page 121 and 122: This pattern, as set out in detail
- Page 123 and 124: with command responsibility as well
- Page 125 and 126: Given these past experiences, UN ag
- Page 127: - Interpreters of an internationall
- Page 131 and 132: The European Union: Subject to witn
- Page 133 and 134: “In Sri Lanka there is a mytholog
- That there be no statute of limitations in relation to the crimes.<br />
- That no head of state secures immunity from prosecution.<br />
- That the right to reparations for victims be legislated.<br />
Squandered Opportunities<br />
The Human Rights Council in March this year deferred the OHCHR report in<br />
order to provide the new Sirisena government an opportunity to put in place<br />
measures to address ongoing violations and accountability for violations<br />
committed during the final phase of the war. The new government also<br />
committed itself to establishing an appropriate transitional justice programme<br />
in consultation with victims so as to address impunity and deal with<br />
accountability. An appropriate transitional justice programme has the<br />
potential to rebuild the trust of citizens in the institutions of the state. However<br />
these steps have either not been taken at all or not taken effectively. Measures<br />
should have included law reform ensuring the independence of the Judiciary,<br />
the office of Attorney General and the prosecutorial services. The witness<br />
protection act should have been revised so as to properly afford victims and<br />
witnesses protection if they came forward to testify. Sadly the new government<br />
has not addressed impunity, which is rife in the country and squandering good<br />
will and opportunity. Frankly victims do not trust the state and its institutions.<br />
Reconciliation<br />
Ultimately reconciliation is about finding ways for people to live together<br />
without fear, where the state has restored their rights as citizens, and where<br />
equality and right to freedom are entrenched and respected irrespective of<br />
religious beliefs or ethnic identity or which side of the political spectrum one<br />
comes from. Reconciliation, while a worthy aspiration, cannot be embarked<br />
upon while a campaign of persecution is still underway and impunity continues<br />
unabated. This is a still unfinished war.<br />
128
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