UN Rights Council Resolution First Step Toward Reconciliation for Sri Lankans

Freedom House welcomes the passage of a resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which calls for further investigation into the human rights atrocities committed during and after the civil war in Sri Lanka and urges the government of Sri Lanka to comply with the recommendations put forth in the resolution to help bring justice and reconciliation to its people after decades of suffering.

The resolution calls for a credible investigation into the atrocities as well as for the government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). The LLRC recommendations include the introduction of a Right to Information Act, providing assistance for the displaced, conducting demilitarization and disarmament of armed groups and reaching a long-needed political solution. The resolution, introduced during the 19th session of the UNHRC, passed with 24 votes in favor, 8 abstentions and 15 votes against. India was the only member state to break from the Asia group to vote for the resolution. 

“This resolution sends an important message to the government of Sri Lanka that its wholesale denial of its own role in the human rights atrocities that occurred at the conclusion of the civil war is untenable,” said Paula Schriefer, vice president for global programs at Freedom House. “The Sri Lankan government will no longer succeed in blinding the international community to the need to uncover the facts. It is time to bring well-deserved justice to the Sri Lankan people.”

At least 100,000 people were killed in the 26-year civil conflict in Sri Lanka and both sides have been accused of large-scale atrocities including mass killing of civilians, the use of civilian shields and targeted killings of key leaders. In the final phase of the war, according to a UN Panel of Experts, government forces carried out heavy shelling of civilians in “no fire zones.” Since the war’s end, few efforts have been made to resolve the grievances that fueled the conflict, and rehabilitation of the war-torn north and east remains slow. The Sri Lankan government sought to whitewash its role in the atrocities in the LLRC report and put significant political capital into preventing the UNHRC resolution from passing.

“We call on the Sri Lankan government to cooperate with the United Nations in implementing the recommendations of the LLRC and express our strong hope that this resolution will finally lead to the establishment of an independent mechanism to investigate credible allegations of war crimes committed on both sides of the conflict,” continued Schriefer.

Sri Lanka is ranked Partly Free in Freedom in the World 2012, Freedom House's survey of political rights and civil liberties, and Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2011.

For more information, visit:

Freedom in the World 2011: Sri Lanka

Freedom of the Press 2011: Sri Lanka

Countries at the Crossroads 2010: Sri Lanka

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