Sri Lanka Monitoring Accountability Panel
PRESS RELEASE: 9 November 2017
PUBLICATION OF THEMATIC REPORT:
An Alternative Roadmap to Victims’ Justice
Today the Sri Lanka Monitoring Accountability Panel (‘MAP’) issues its Thematic Report: An Alternative Roadmap to Victims’ Justice.
The MAPs international legal experts provide an assessment of the transitional justice efforts by the Sri Lankan Government. The Thematic Report laments the failure of the Sri Lankan Government to make any credible progress in fulfilling its commitments under the October 2015 Resolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka,’ despite the two year extension granted by the UN Human Rights Council.
Since the Sri Lanka Government has demonstrated a clear intention not to satisfy its legal obligations to victims of mass atrocities within its national courts, the report highlights the need to pursue alternative avenues of justice. As stated in the Report:
“It is now clear to all honest observes that (1) the international crimes committed in Sri Lanka were some of the most heinous anywhere in the world during this century and (2) there is no realistic prospect of those persons most responsible for the crimes being prosecuted in Sri Lanka’s national courts.”
Specifically, the Report encourages the use of ‘universal jurisdiction’, namely, the prosecution of Sri Lankan torturers and war criminals in third countries, such as Europe and America. In addition, the Report urges the UN Security Council to consider referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and national authorities in Western states to impose targeted sanctions on individual Sri Lankan human rights abusers.
The MAP provides independent monitoring, advice, and recommendations, focusing on the effectiveness of accountability measures from a victims’ perspective. The views and recommendations of the Panel enable victims and other stakeholders to participate more effectively in the transitional justice processes. For more information, please visit: http://war-victims-map.org/
For media enquiries please contact:
Richard J Rogers – [email protected]