A new ICJ report released today addresses the systematic absence of remedies for gross human rights violations in Sri Lanka between 1977 and 2001 – a period of widespread disappearances and unlawful killings.
The ICJ released today its Trial Observation Report on proceedings before the Colombo High Court in the prosecution of J.S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil journalist.
On 31 August 2009, Mr Tissainayagam was convicted under anti-terrorism laws and sentenced by Judge Deepali Wijesundara to 20 years “rigorous imprisonment.”
SriLanka-journalist-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ urged the UN Human Rights Council’s special session to call on the Government of Sri Lanka to take several human rights measures.
In particular, the Government of Sri Lanka must ensure unhindered humanitarian access and assistance to the internally displaced persons (IDPs), protection of IDPs, safeguards against attacks on journalists and human rights defenders and effective accountability, including through an independent international investigation into human rights and humanitarian law violations.
The ICJ deplored that the draft resolution L.1/Rev.2, which was later adopted by vote, failed to address the most pressing concerns.
SriLanka-UNcouncil-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
The ICJ welcomes the convening of a Human Rights Council’s special session today in Geneva to address for the first time the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sri Lanka.
“The human rights and humanitarian crisis continues to unfold following the Government of Sri Lanka’s announcement last week that its military operations against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had ended and that all civilians had left the conflict zone,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists.
SriLanka-UNcouncil-IDPs-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
“There is a continuing and acute need for the Human Rights Council to act on Sri Lanka notwithstanding a reported end of fighting between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers.”
“Even though the fighting may have dissipated, any nation’s reconstruction requires respect for international law, accountability and the rule of law principles, which today remain largely absent in the wake of this lengthy conflict,” said Wilder Tayler, Acting Secretary-General of the ICJ.
SriLanka-UNCouncilspecialsessions-news-2009 (full text, PDF)
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