OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project(Oslap) Report Of UNHRC -Stepping Stone For Justice Accountability &Reconciliation

(MENAFN- EIN Presswire)

Killing Fields

OSlap commissioned by 47 Member States of UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has released Report titled“Accountability for Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka”

To use all forms of potential jurisdiction, including ..extraterritorial &universal jurisdiction, to investigate &prosecute crimes ..committed in Sri Lanka..; and ..support for ..international justice” - OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project (OSlap) Report of the UNHRCWASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, August 7, 2024 /EINPresswire / -- The OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project (OSlap) commissioned by the 47 Member States of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has released its Report titled “Accountability for Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka” . The release of the Report prior to the Sri Lankan Presidential elections is a timely reminder of the urgent need for justice and accountability for the heinous crimes perpetrated against the Tamil people and is a stepping stone for reconciliation among all the people of Sri Lanka.

Tamils in the Homeland and the Diaspora. the list of organizations is given below, "welcome, unreservedly, the Report which substantiates our call for referring the Sri Lankan state to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the credibly alleged perpetrators to the International Criminal Court (ICC)."

While there is no doubt that the brunt of the“Enforced Disappearances” are borne by the Tamil People who have undergone untold sufferings which have haunted them for decades, there is sufficient evidence of journalists, human rights activists, Members of Parliament, etc. belonging to all communities of the country who have suffered“Enforced Disappearances” by successive Sri Lankan governments.

The 41 page comprehensive Report runs the gamut from the“history” of enforced disappearances to the“gaping deficits” in accountability initiatives undertaken by successive Sri Lankan governments ending in a summary“conclusion” which leads to the specific“recommendations” for implementation. The recommendations are in two sections, one“to the Government of Sri Lanka” and the other“to the International Community”.

The "recommendations to the Sri Lankan government" is a no holds barred demand for a comprehensive reversal of the historical record of the suppression of accountability imposed by successive governments. The "recommendations to the International Community" leaves no doubt whatsoever of the commitment to apply the full force of international jurisdiction for accountability should the Sri Lankan government fail to do so.

The Presidential candidates have a golden opportunity to set the country on a new path of system change, reconciliation, peace, and prosperity if they will adopt and faithfully implement the recommendations of the Report in their respective election manifestos. This will be a key factor which will garner the entire support of the Tamil People as well as a large segment of the right-thinking people of the country.

The singular denial of accountability by successive majoritarian governments in their suppression of basic human rights has without doubt led to the entrenched impunity by the same perpetrators in bringing the country down to its knees in financial bankruptcy.

If this fact was not evident to the majority Sinhala-Buddhist population which has inexorably returned the same perpetrators to power repeatedly, the current spiralling of the country into the abyss of bankruptcy should be a wakeup call for accountability "sine qua non".

Failure to do so, one more time, after 15 years of suppression of the truth leaves Sri Lanka open at the forthcoming September 2024 Session of the UNHRC in Geneva to the stark warning in the Report, "To use all forms of potential jurisdiction, including under accepted principles of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction, to investigate and prosecute crimes under international law committed in Sri Lanka, strengthen coordination in relation to ongoing investigations; and consider support for other avenues of international justice".

Organizations which endorse this Press Release:
1. Australian Tamil Congress; ...
2. Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances, North & East Provinces, Sri Lanka, ...
3. Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America (FeTNA); ...
4. Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA; ...
5. Maison du Tamil Eelam, France: ...
6. People for Equality And Relief in Lanka; ...
7. Tamil Rights Group, Canada; ...
8. United States Tamil Action Group (USTAG); ...
9. World Thamil Organization, USA; ...

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