Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Lasantha’s murder, and the government’s failure to meaningfully investigate it, is a potent illustration of the importance and necessity of holding the perpetrators of crimes…

Accountability for atrocities against Tamils and curbing Sinhala Buddhist nationalism are key to the island’s stability and prosperity.

It’s not the robust independent mechanism victims campaigned for, or the referral to the ICC that they deserve, but it is a potential path to justice.

Developing such a list of individuals would signal to survivors some measure of recognition of the atrocities they have suffered.

Twelve years of failed justice must trigger an honest debate on the ability of these mechanisms to prevent violations and deal with historical atrocities.

The record shows that, if this is the only feasible route to accountability for now, countries will require additional support at the UN level to achieve accountability.

For more than a decade, in one atrocity case after another, justice is delayed, denied, or even reversed, as the government pursues impunity.

The credibility of the Human Rights Council and the UN system, given its “grave failure” in the past, depends on accountability for Sri Lanka’s atrocities.

The Biden administration should press the UN Human Rights Council for action and impose its own measures, including further sanctions.

She notes the Sri Lankan government has made clear that it has no intention of pursuing accountability for atrocities committed during the civil war.

The record is abundantly clear that the country’s domestic mechanisms lack effectiveness and credibility. This is a gap that the UN uniquely can fill.

The Rajapaksa government has gone so far as to install someone allegedly associated with a death squad on the Human Rights Council.