31 May 2013 - Ever since the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009, issues of the criminal accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and the ongoing sexualized violence against women have been a priority for ECCHR. According to a United Nations report,  over 70,000 civilians lost their lives during the Sri Lankan army’s final offensive against the rebel Tamil Tigers (LTTE) lasting from the end of 2008 until May 2009. These actions brought an end to the armed conflict that had been taking place in Sri Lanka for more than 30 years. To date there has been no effective investigation in Sri Lanka to address the international crimes committed during the conflict, crimes which include the massive shelling of civilian no fire zones and hospitals and the numerous incidences of sexualized violence.

Directly after the end of the conflict, ECCHR authored a study examining issues of accountability for international crimes. A number of dossiers were also compiled focusing on individual suspects from the Sri Lankan armed forces. ECCHR successfully brought about the revocation of the diplomatic status of two former military suspects, with the result that these individuals no longer enjoy diplomatic immunity from prosecution abroad. The suspects had been working at the Sri Lankan embassies in London and Berlin and were forced to return to Sri Lanka.

ECCHR has also submitted a number of reports and analyses of sexualized violence to various United Nations bodies. The violence, directed mainly against Tamil women in northern and eastern parts of the country, occurred while the conflict was ongoing but also continued afterwards as a result of the subsequent high level militarization of the region.

Dias and Silva Cases

A number of high-ranking members of the Sri Lankan army suspected of involvement in war crimes took up diplomatic posts in European and other countries after the conflict came to an end. As a result they could only face prosecution if their diplomatic immunity was revoked. Before this background, ECCHR compiled dossiers on individuals including former Major General of the 57th Division Jagath Dias and former Major General of the 59th Division Prasanna De Silva, in association with the Swiss based NGOs TRIAL and Society for Threatened Peoples. Dias was a high-level diplomat in the Berlin embassy with additional responsibility for Switzerland while Silva worked at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London. The dossiers were presented to the respective Foreign Ministries in London, Berlin and Switzerland with the request to declare the individuals to be persona non grata and thus lift their diplomatic immunity. The Foreign Ministries entered into discussions and ultimately both former military members returned to Sri Lanka.

ECCHR calls for greater care to be taken in future with the accreditation of Sri Lankan diplomats. When visas are being issued to diplomatic embassy staff serious efforts must be made to investigate claims that the individual may be linked to, war crimes including. If necessary, these efforts must include independent preliminary investigations by the relevant prosecution authorities.

Sexualized Violence in Sri Lanka

At the 48th session of UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), ECCHR presented a report on the foreseeability of sexual violence in conflict in the context of Sri Lanka. The report calls for new legal means to hold perpetrators accountable and calls on the UN, as it works to uphold human and women's rights, to take into account the frequent occurrence of sexualized violence during conflict situations.

In June 2012 ECCHR called on three UN Special Rapporteurs and a UN Working Group to carry out further investigations into the situation of women and girls in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Pressure must be exerted on Sri Lanka to comply with its international obligations and in particular to bring its Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in line with the UN CEDAW Convention. This law makes it easier for police and military personnel to carry out body inspections and searches without giving any reason. These searches often involve sexual harassment and violence of a sexual nature.

Debate / Publications

ECCHR presented its study on criminal accountability at an event held parallel to the 15th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. ECCHR’s dossiers on the Dias and Silva cases were widely reported on by television and print media in Germany, Switzerland and the UK. In addition, numerous discussions were held on a diplomatic level as well as with various parliamentarians.

ECCHR reported on the situation of women in northern Sri Lanka at an event parallel to the 19th and 22nd sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council as well as to the CEDAW Committee in Geneva and the European Parliament in Brussels. In addition, public events on this issue were held in Berlin. 

ECCHR also contributed two witness statements to the UN study on accountability in Sri Lanka.