(New York, December 17, 2011) – The report of the Sri Lankan government’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) disregards the worst abuses by government forces, rehashes longstanding recommendations, and fails to advance accountability for victims of Sri Lanka’s civil armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said today.
The serious shortcomings of the 388-page report, which was posted on a government website on December 16, 2011, highlight the need for an international investigative mechanism into the conflict as recommended by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts in April.
The LLRC report was long awaited, but provided little new information or recommendations on accountability that could not have already been put into effect by the government, Human Rights Watch said. While the UN Panel of Experts recommended the establishment of an independent international mechanism to conduct investigations into the alleged violations, the LLRC report provides no realistic pathway for holding accountable military and government officials implicated in serious abuses.
“Governments and UN bodies have held back for the past 18 months to allow the Sri Lankan commission to make progress on accountability,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The commission’s failure to provide a road map for investigating and prosecuting wartime perpetrators shows the dire need for an independent, international commission.”
The LLRC’s findings, largely exonerating government forces for laws-of-war violations, stand in stark contrast to those by the UN Panel of Experts, the UN special envoy on extrajudicial executions, and other independent organizations. The UN Panel of Experts concluded that both government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conducted military operations “with flagrant disregard for the protection, rights, welfare and lives of civilians and failed to respect the norms of international law.”
The LLRC report does sweep aside Sri Lankan government claims that its forces committed no civilian casualties during the final stages of the conflict with the LTTE, which ended in May 2009. In the face of overwhelming evidence, the LLRC concluded that there were “considerable civilian casualties” during the final stages of the fighting and that hospitals had been shelled “causing damage and resulting in casualties.” However, the report largely exonerates the government, blaming the casualties, either directly or indirectly, on the LTTE, Human Rights Watch said.
“It is important that a government-appointed body has laid to rest the bizarre claims of the government that its forces caused no civilian casualties,” Adams said. “Yet the commission shockingly fails to call for any criminal investigations into artillery shelling of crowded areas in which tens of thousands of civilians died.”
The LLRC report failed to examine the use of heavy artillery against civilian areas as possible indiscriminate attacks in violation of the laws of war, Human Rights Watch said. While summarily rejecting that the military’s attacks either deliberately targeted civilians or caused disproportionate civilian harm, the LLRC did not even consider whether any attacks failed to discriminate between civilians and combatants, a major finding by the UN panel and Human Rights Watch.
The report lists only five incidents of shelling for further investigation in which government forces were implicated. It simply dismisses the widely reported shelling of hospitals by noting that civilian witnesses could not pinpoint who was responsible for the attacks, or excuses the attacks on the grounds that LTTE forces were nearby.
While the report strongly condemns the LTTE for abuses previously reported by Human Rights Watch and others, the LLRC consistently seeks to justify wrongdoing by government forces by blaming the LTTE.
The report states, for example, that “account must also be taken of the fact that military operations had to be conducted against an enemy who had no qualms in resorting to a combat strategy which paid little heed to the safety of the civilian population and in fact made the civilian population very much a part of such strategy.” While the LTTE committed horrendous abuses during the fighting, statements such as this fail to recognize that violations by one party to a conflict do not justify violations by the other, Human Rights Watch said.
Among the many omissions, the LLRC report does not examine allegations that government forces executed several LTTE leaders who attempted to surrender to the government during the last days of the war in what has been called the “white flag” incident. The report limits its analysis of the so-called Channel 4 video, which appears to show government soldiers executing handcuffed and blindfolded prisoners, to a technical discussion of the video’s authenticity without mentioning the government’s admission that its forces killed a young woman visible in the footage.
Sexual violence is not discussed in the report, a likely product of the nature of the commission’s proceedings, which did not provide for witness protection. The report also does not mention torture or ill-treatment of detainees, the illegal, several-months-long detention of 300,000 people displaced by the fighting, or the denial of due process rights to more than 10,000 alleged LTTE members whom the government detained in so-called rehabilitation centers.
The report includes evidence of enforced disappearances allegedly committed by government security forces. While the LLRC recommends investigations and possible prosecutions, similar recommendations have been made by earlier government appointed commission with little effect, Human Rights Watch said. Other recommendations on a range of human rights issues, while positive, have repeatedly been made to the government in the past. The LLRC even made a call for its own interim recommendations to be carried out, which the government has not done.
Several governments, including the US and the UK, have said that they will support the establishment of an international investigation unless the Sri Lankan government demonstrates progress on accountability for wartime abuses. The LLRC report has often been cited as a crucial test of the government’s commitment to accountability. During a trip to Sri Lanka in September 2011, for example, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said, referring to the LLRC, “There will be pressure if it’s not a credible process [leading to accountability], there will be pressure for some sort of alternative mechanism.”
“It is clear that justice for conflict-related abuses is not going to happen within Sri Lanka’s domestic institutions,” Adams said. “The government has been playing for time by appointing the LLRC. That time has now run out.”
this LLRC is obviously an eyewash by sl govt., There must be an independent inquiry onto the war crimes and genocide pointed in UN report on lanka…….. The innocents victims of war must be given justice
Please sign the petition to release Kuhan and Lalith Veraraj from Sri Lankan military ditention http://www.change.org/petitions/appeal-for-the-immediate-release-of-opposition-activits-in-sri-lanka
it is like denying the holocaust by the Nazis.
Has this report been given to Ban hi Moon officially by Sl gov ?? Otherwise he can say I have not received any report and can’t legally and officially give any response??? Could some legal experts shed any light on it.
I have started reading the full report I am at 2.23 at present the impression already forcastes this is going to be one sided white wash and trying to protect Government and its goons. I will report back once I have finished reading
So what are we lamenting about today? There is nothing new in the report and the obvious violations have been overlooked? So what, that was the original intention of the commission besides buying some time from further international pressure – sort of breathing space. Consider yourself lucky that the report itself finally has seen the light of the day!
The knave recommendations of the LLRC is nothing new though. They were generally in the public domain and intended to buy further time. Do not dream even some of them will be implemented. They have set up another mechanism to eternally delay the process while make a show to the IC of going through the motions and disturb the whole process by never ending discussions and cross talks with the Parliamentary Select Committee. Now that TNA has shown some willingness to play ball with their “discussions”, “stoppages” and “resumptions” etc., they think they are sitting fairly confortable. Today was the big black day for the judiciary of Sri Lanka.
Phoooo! What else is there to go wrong in this country? I cannot think of any!
This was expected, everybody knew Mahinda Rajapksha was only playing with time. He cannot sue himself and his brothers. He and his brothers are the culprits. Now it is the turn of the international to act!
The LLRC has failed to hold the State and its armed forces as a party to the conflict accountable to its actions which resulted in the allegations of war crimes. It has sought to provide explanations and justifications for the actions of the armed forces. As a commission appointed by the President and given its narrow mandate it could not have produced anything more than a white wash. An independent, impartial inquiry into allegations of war crimes committed by the armed forces deployed by the State and the LTTE is a necessary pre-condition for Tamil people in the North for the restoration of their faith as citizens of the Sri Lankan State that it can be held accountable to its actions and those responsible for crimes are dealt with according to law. This, I beleive, would contribute for mutual reconciliation between the Sri Lankan State and the Tamil people. In a spirit of national reconciliation, I think, President Mahinda Rajapaksa should make a public apology to the Tamil people for atrocities committed by armed forces under his Command and make reparations. The Tamil Political leaderships should also reciprocate in making a public apology for crimes committed by the LTTE against Tamil/Muslim/Sinhala people in the name of Tamil National Liberation.
TThere’s not much in LLRC besides patting the back of the army.
Did anyone seriously expect any other response from the teary-eyed inhabitants of AI, HRW and the like ????
LLRC is a waste of time and it goes nowhere …
Rajapakse is good at false promises but not good in implementation of any his shiny, elaborate lies..
We all can remember the shiny promises of the implementation 13 A …
Sea of big smiles and sincere promise of 13 A+ and even more ….
Then lot’s hoodwinks again and implying that even incredibly spectacular “13A+++++” will be implemented as soon as the Tamil Tigers will be killed.
Well , Tamil Tigers are gone but nothing is done.
The promises turn out to be empty …
Now, there are new promises that smell like rotten fish to me …
There will be demilitarization soon .. Ha… Ha… Ha This one is for the gullible.. Another Smoke and Mirrors Dance … Another Manipulation by a pathological liar
The eminent citizens have made themselves a fs FOOLS by sending a report like this?? or thgey were being fooled by Ma Ra
Mr Adams the chief of the NGO,the Human Rights Watch says,
” LLRC failed to examine the use of Heavy Artillery against civilian areas, as possible indiscriminate attacks in Violation of the Laws of War.”
Isn’t it a fact that the LTTE Leader and his Top Aides barricaded themselves in the middle of a sea of civilians, by forcing them to the area where top Brass were hiding from the advancing Srilankan Forces?.
Does it make this a civilian area?.
Are the the thousands of casualties in Iraq , Libya, and Afganistan, even as late as last month , all in non civilian areas, for Mr Adam’s the HRW ,not to call for Independent International Investigation?
Are the Govts responsible for these civilian casualties exempt from International Investigations because 100% of the funds for this NGO is derived from these countries?.
The people who risk their life to witness the comission are now frustrated. Whole world should understand that GOSL are the big cheaters. They are going to ruin the whole Sri Lanka.
What’s that? The panel presented the actual evidence instead of tailoring their report to fit the ‘human rights’ brigade’s baseless conclusions?? Boo hoo. Go cry some more, Brad.
The army did a fantastic job wiping out terrorists and freeing hostages, they deserve a whole lot more than a mere pat on the back.
Hikz Yes they did a lot more and than wipeing out Terrorists the wiped out several thousands of civilians so they deserve not just pat on the back butreserve a place in the Haque
I TOO AM STUDYING THIS REPORT NOW. THERE WAS A GLARING ERROR I DETECTED ON PAGE 32/407 PARA 2.3 ABOUT THE DUDLEY SENANAYAKE – CHELVANAYAKAM PACT. THE YEAR OF THAT PACT IS GIVEN IN THE REPORT AS 1957. I BELIEVE IT WAS 1965. ALSO THE THIMPU TALKS TOOK PLACE IN 1985, I BELIEVE. BUT THE REPORT GIVES IT VAGUELY AS MID-1980s. AND WHEREAS THERE ARE INDEED INTERNAL INCONSISTENCIES AND CONTRADICTIONS IN THE REPORT, IT HAS ALSO MADE SOME IMPORTANT AND USEFUL RECOMMENDATIONS THAT NEED TO BE IMPLEMENATED SOON. THESE ARE MY OVERALL COMMENTS AFTER A SUPERFICIAL FIRST BROWSING. I AM STUDYING IT FURTHER
TNA Finds Contradictions In LLRC Report
By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema
M.A. Sumanthiran
The TNA says the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has severely contradicted itself in the conclusion of its report.
TNA parliamentarian and Attorney M.A. Sumanthiran said the party was currently studying the full report and would make an official response once the examination is concluded.
However, Sumanthiran told The Sunday Leader that at first glance it was noticed that the Commission has severely contradicted itself by concluding that the civilians had not been deliberately targeted by the security forces in the final stages of the war.
He said that while the LLRC has claimed that the Commission had no mandate to investigate into any incident and has recommended independent investigations into certain issues, it had concluded that civilians had not been deliberately targeted and has commended the conduct of the armed forces.
“How can the LLRC come to such a conclusion without investigating into the matter?” he queried.
“The LLRC has contradicted itself by making such statements,” he added. Sumanthiran also noted another crucial factor in the LLRC report noted while reading through it.
“A crucial factor is the announcement made by the government that there were only 70,000 civilians in the conflict zone during the final stages of the war when official statistics at the time stated there was a population of over 400,000 civilians in the conflict zone at the time,” he explained.
According to Sumanthiran, it is an important issue that has not been dealt with in the LLRC report.
“The LLRC has commended the conduct of the armed forces and commented on civilian casualties without addressing this important issue,” he said.
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It depends…. if Hague also houses people who committed murder in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afganistan and Libya, (and the leaders who sat in white offices giving the commands) then yes, we can talk about that.
By the way, why is the International Community saying both sides commited war crimes but is chasing only one side? Start prosecuting the LTTE and see the support you will get.
Once that is over, you can turn your guns on the other side… If such impartiality is evident, then we will support the International Communities’ efforts.
But Rajapakse was rejected by the Tamils at the polls…. That means the Tamils do not want whst Rajapakse was promising them. Having rejected him, you cannot blame him for broken promises!
Try voting for him over-whelmingly next time. When TNA is wiped out he will make Jaffna as beautiful as Hambantota!
That is because the International community failed to pat the back of the first army that got rid of Terrorism, just because their own countries could not achieve the same. Is the HRW, AI going to have criminal proceedings against any body for killing the unarmed OBL and someone who tried to protect OBL? Do not get me wrong. OBL was a terrorist. He and his protectors getting killed even without a fair trial, has to be accepted as consequences of ‘war’. And in Sri Lanka, the situation was much worse. Also remember that the International community was planning to ‘spirit away’ the terrorist leader. If they were really interested about human casualties, they could have dropped the bunker bombs on VP while he was in his bunker. Then the Sri Lankan army could have saved many many lives – not only of the Tamils, but their own.
Let the Tamils living in Sri Lanka get on with their lives and enjoy the peace. Do not let those who are not in Sri Lanka spoil the lives of those in Sri Lanka – what ever race they belong to. They have suffered for too long, too much because of those who are not residing in SL.
People like Kalu Albert should start a new school on “ethnic logic”!
This whole exercise is another poorly constructed hoax. Most analysts have referred to the LLRC as a weak fig leaf to cover the ommissions of the army and its decision-makers during May 2009 – the focus of attention. The Govt itself was reluctantly forced to appoint some sort of a credible Enquiry mechanism not for the purpose of unearthing the truth – but more to avoid a howling international community that was screaming at the Govt to own responsibility. Since the Govt was caught with its pants down with yet another howler in that infantile declaration “there was zero civial casualty during the war” and then retract it completely and admit “there were
some civilian deaths” – the world, convinced State actors had committed deliberate and grave HR violations in connivance with their political Managers – insisted the Inquiry mechanism should have an overseas component. The Govt – for its own reasons – refuses this so far on weak grounds bordering on sovereignty.
LLRC Report was ready a few months ago and was made public by the Govt after a month it was received by the President. It being made public at a time coinciding with the Case against it filed in the District Court of Columbia,
Washington DC – after the Govt refused to answer plaint filed 9 months ago – is tainted with suspioion.
It is unfortunate there are some honourabe men and woman in the Commission whose long reputations too are bound
to be tarnished by placing their signature to a document that is likely to be shred into pieces soon. Not just the
TNA but the US Govt too remarks the Commission has failed to address several crucial areas. All the Commission has done is exonerate both the regime and the uniformed men off the hook – momentarily.
ISS
what we could see is thet the LLRChas not achieved its objectives and it has been used as a ploy to stop any international investigation occuring.this has not bought the real purpetrators of war in to justice.