A top United Nations official has called for establishment of a war crimes court to investigate "horrific" abuses allegedly committed by both the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels during the country's 26-year civil war.
"Our
investigation has laid bare the horrific level of violations and abuses
that occurred in Sri Lanka, including indiscriminate shelling,
extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, harrowing accounts of
torture and sexual violence, recruitment of children and other grave
crimes," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a press release.
He
said creation of a hybrid court, which would integrate international
judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators, was an essential step
toward justice because Sri Lankans distrust the government.
report reveals violations among the most serious crimes of concern to the international community"
The Sri Lankan civil war ended in May 2009 with the government crushing the Tamil Tigers in their heartland in the north of the island nation in the Indian Ocean.
The former president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, had resisted an investigation of alleged war crimes, saying it would hurt national reunification efforts. He lost the presidency in January to Maithripala Sirisena but is still involved in Sri Lankan politics.
"This
report is being presented in a new political context in Sri Lanka,
which offers grounds for hope," Zeid said. "It is crucial that this
historic opportunity for truly fundamental change is not allowed to
slip."
The press release said the crimes documented in a U.N. investigation report included:
Unlawful killings.
Sri Lankan security forces killed Tamil politicians, humanitarian
workers, journalists and ordinary civilians, with "discernible patterns"
of killings near security force checkpoints and military bases, the
release said. It said the Tamils killed Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese
civilians through suicide bombings, assassinations and mine attacks.
Sexual and gender-based violence.
The Sri Lankan military committed sexual violence against men as well
as women detainees, the release said, adding that. "Harrowing testimony
from 30 survivors of sexual violence who were interviewed indicates that
incidents of sexual violence were not isolated acts but part of a
deliberate policy to inflict torture."
Disappearances.
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans disappeared over the decades,
including people who surrendered during the final years of the civil
war, the release said.
Torture.
Many military centers had rooms equipped with torture equipment,
"including metal bars and poles for beatings, barrels of water used for
waterboarding, and pulleys from which victims were suspended," the
release said. The existence of the rooms indicated a "premeditated and
systematic" use of torture, the U.N. said.
Forced recruitment of children and adults.
The Tamils are accused of abducting children and adults and forcing
them to take up arms, the press release said. The paramilitary Karuna
group, which supported the government after it split from the Tamils in
2004, is accused of doing the same.
Denial of humanitarian aid.
The government may have blocked the delivery of food aid and medical
supplies by humanitarian groups to the Vanni in the northern province,
which may amount to the use of starvation of the civilian population as a
method of warfare, the release said.
The U.N. commended Sirisena's desire for accountability but noted that people in Sri Lanka are suspicious of the government.
"The
levels of mistrust in state authorities and institutions by broad
segments of Sri Lankan society should not be underestimated," Zeid said.
"It is for this reason that the establishment of a hybrid special
court, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and
investigators, is so essential. A purely domestic court procedure will
have no chance of overcoming widespread and justifiable suspicions
fuelled by decades of violations, malpractice and broken promises."
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