OHCHR Report Calls for Justice and Accountability – Ravina Shamdasani

7/17/2019 OHCHR Report Calls for Justice and Accountability – Ravina Shamdasani

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OHCHR Report Calls for Justice andAccountability – Ravina Shamdasani

(Ravina Shamdasani)

22/09/2015

Action against LTTE financiers and other international oeratives !ill "e an integralart of the criminal investigation recommended in the #$%$R Reort& The #$%$RSecial So'eserson Ravina Shamdasani called on ever*one in Sri Lan'a sholdstd* the Reort in deth& +This is a Reort for the eole of Sri Lan'a& ,e !ant the

eole to nderstand the findings nderstand the anal*sis and in that conte-t to loo'at the recommendations. &

Secial So'eserson for the #ffice of the $man Rights $igh %ommissionerRavina Shamdasani& ic "* an3la 4ernando

The Secial So'eserson for the #ffice of the $man Rights $igh %ommissionerRavina Shamdasani said action against LTTE financiers and other internationaloeratives !ill "e an integral art of the criminal investigation that the $igh%ommissioner had roosed throgh the recommended Secial $*"rid %ort&

Shamdasani !as in %olom"o dring the release of the Reort of the $igh%ommissioner on Sri Lan'a and the Snda* #"server met her at the comondthe da* the reort !as made "lic in eneva&

E-certs of the intervie!

67 %an the consenss resoltion "* the S override the recommendations of the

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$man Rights $igh %ommissioner 8 %an the* as' mem"ers of the %oncil to sorta domestic mechanism to ro"e allegations of !ar crimes in lace of a $*"rid Secial%ort8

A7t !as the $man Rights %oncil and the States !hich mandated this investigation&The* as'ed s to investigate serios allegations of hman rights and to contine tomonitor the sitation inclding the 3stice and acconta"ilit* rocess& This is !hat !e

have done&

#n the "asis of or findings the $igh %ommissioner has made recommendations!hich sit the findings as !ell as the crrent sitation in Sri Lan'a& These have "eenindeendentl* considered and !e hoe the States !ill agree !ith s and !ill movefor!ard in 'eeing !ith the $igh %ommissioner:s recommendations&

67 The $igh %ommissioner has recognised that there have "een violationseretrated "* the LTTE as !ell as the aramilitar* forces& ,ill there "e an* actionagainst those eole8

A7A"soltel* !e are calling for 3stice and acconta"ilit* on all sides no matter !hothe eretrators are regardless of their ositions in societ* and government & ,e havedocmented violations "* "oth sides; the LTTE aramilitar* gros and thegovernment&

The reort tal's a"ot serios violations these are not ne! to Sri Lan'a the* aredescri"ed in detail in the Reort& %hildren "eing forcefll* recrited on their !a* toschool "eing snatched a!a* from their arents and assassinations are some of themost shoc'ing findings& There are also allegations of se-al violence and tortre <a"ot rooms set in detention centres that are designated for the se of tortre&

Secial instrments that !ere created to condct se-al tortre on eole&

,e are as'ing for acconta"ilit* on all sides& t doesn:t matter !hat the oliticalaffiliation is&

67 n a sitation !here most of the LTTE leaders !ho eretrated alleged !ar crimeshave erished in the final "attles !ill there "e action against the LTTE internationalfinanciers etc 8

A7=es in some cases the >est for 3stice and acconta"ilit* have "een hamered"ecase man* of the LTTE leadershi are either dead or have disaeared at the end

of the conflict& That does seriosl* hamer and infringes on the victim:s right to 3stice&?t having said that there !as a case recentl* in the $age !here fnd;raisers for theLTTE !ere fond gilt* their crimes even thogh it !as fnd;raising !ere associated!ith !ar crimes&

There:s a lot that can "e done& f *o are loo'ing at a s*stemic aroach to 3sticerather than 3st loo'ing for individal eretrators !ho !ere resonsi"le for individalviolation&



=o go throgh the strctre and tac'le the financiers the commanders the eole!ho created the olicies !hich !ere designed to commit violations of internationalhman rights and hmanitarian la!&

?ecase this is sch a comle- rocess !e thin' it is imortant for it to have aninternational comonent the Sri Lan'an 3stice s*stem has not in the ast handled

crimes of an international natre&

67 ,ith regard to the state actors !ill there "e action against the olitical leadershialso 8

A7The command resonsi"ilit* !ill e-tend to eole !ho gave orders for a certainolic* to "e carried ot !hich !old violate international la!s it:s not limited to 3stmilitar* oeratives it cold "e olitical oeratives as !ell&

67 eole e-ected names to "e listed in the Reort& ,h* did it fall short of that8o it did not fall short in fact this !as meant to "e a hman rights investigation not a

criminal investigation !e shold "e the first to resect hman rights of all theresmtion of innocence is there&

So !e cold not attri"te individal criminal resonsi"ilit* to a named erson in thisReort& ?t there is evidence here !hich can "e sed to initiate roer criminalinvestigation roer rosectorial investigations cross e-amination of !itnesses andall of that&

67 ,ill these cases "e referred to the %% at an* oint 8 A7As said the $igh %ommissioner:s recommendations are "ased on the findings of

the Reort as !ell as the crrent conte-t and given all of that he decided the "est!a* for!ard at this oint in time is the creation of the h*"rid secial cort&

So this is !here !e stand right no!& Sri Lan'a is at a oint !here there:s a lot of hoeand !e are also encoraged "* the signs that !e are seeing !ith the ne!government and !e !old li'e ever*one to sei@e this oortnit* to sei@e thismomentm and ta'e it for!ard so that !e don:t need to tal' a"ot !hat frthermeasres !old "e ta'en if there is no comliance if there is lac' of rogress on thisLet:s not even tal' a"ot that let:s focs on the hoefl sitation that !e are in rightno!& And "ild on that momentm&

67 o! that the $igh %ommissioner:s Reort is "lic !hat !ill "e the ne-t se>enceof stes8

A7The reort !as released toda* it !as shared !ith the government a fe! da*s inadvance& ?t of corse !e need to give them time to reall* std* therecommendations& Their first resonse has "een a ositive one a one of engagement&

4irst of all !e are calling ever*one in Sri Lan'a irresective of their ethnic "ac'grondand olitical affiliations to std* this Reort in deth& This is a Reort for the eole of



Sri Lan'a& ,e !ant the eole to nderstand the findings nderstand the anal*sisand on that conte-t to loo' at the recommendations&

The ne-t ste follo!ing that !old "e imlementation of the recommendations& This isreall* a call for seed* action to condct the reforms that are necessar* < "e it legalreforms instittional reforms < and esta"lishment of this cort the trth see'ing and

trth telling mechanism& The imlementation shold "e done roerl* in consltation!ith the eole !ho are most affected "* it&

The victims on all sides of the conflict need to "e involved in the design of themechanisms "ecase then the* !ill have o!nershi over it the* !ill have faith in therocess and the* !ill sea'& Then *o are tal'ing a"ot tre 3stice and acconta"ilit*&

67 Are !e tal'ing a"ot a anel of 3dges sitting and inviting eole to come andtestif* and t together another reort or is it going to "e a criminal investigation8

A7The ne-t ste shold "e a criminal investigation to esta"lish individal criminal

resonsi"ilit* at all levels inclding throgh the command strctre as !ell& #n thee-act design of the mechanism as said is a matter that needs to "e sorted otthrogh consltation& So !e:ve made a "road recommendation sa*ing !hat !e thin' isindisensa"le that there needs to "e a secial cort integrating international 3dgesrosectors and investigators& The e-act details !ill have to "e !or'ed ot inconsltation !ith all the sta'e holders&

67 ,hat !ill "e the sort of nishment meted ot to those fond gilt* !ill it involverison terms etc8

A7There are man* different models that had "een sed for the commission of serios

international crime li'e !ar crimes and crimes against hmanit*&

There has to "e roer 3dicial rocess and reslts of that need to "e "ased on rle ofla! so *es rison terms etc& ?t arallel to that there also needs to "e a trth see'ingand a reconciliation rocess&

67 The imrisonments if at all !ill "e in Sri Lan'a is it8Then again it has to "e decided in the ftre&

67 $as the #$%$R verified the rofiles of the victims and !itnesses !ho !ere

involved in the investigation "ecase there are claims that some of those eole !erestage managed 8 A7,e are e-erienced at condcting sch investigations !e have done investigations!ith or !ithot the cooeration of the government in different arts of the !orld& And!e have a ver* stringent methodolog* !here !e have some"od* ma'ing anallegation a lot of allegations !ere made that did not ma'e it to this reort "ecase!e !ere na"le to verif* them&

,hatever details are in the reort have "een corro"orated& nfortnatel* !e did not



have access to the contr*& ,e received thin' 000 !ritten s"missions and !e hadaccess to n"lished reorts "oth government and others& ,e had access tosatellite imager* to hotograhs and !e got forensic secialists to loo' at the hotosand videos to anal*se them for s& And !e also condcted intervie!s& So !hatevervictims and !itnesses claim has to "e corro"orated and "ac'ed& And that:s theinformation that *o find in the reort&

67 Bo *o thin' the S resoltion on Lan'a !hich initiall* roosed to sort adomestic in>ir* "* the Sri Lan'an government on otstanding acconta"ilit* isses!ill no! have a different aroach 8,e ver* mch hoe so& ,e hoe that the* !ill nderstand the $igh %ommissioner:srecommendations are "ased on findings of fact and legal anal*sis and goodnderstanding of the crrent conte-t so !e hoe that !ill "e recogni@ed and thatthese recommendations "e fll* endorsed&

67 The $man Rights $igh %ommissioner has roosed to set a ermanent

$man Rights office in %olom"o& ,hat !ill "e the role of this office 8#ne of the recommendations in the $igh %ommissioner:s Reort is that the Sri Lan'anovernment invite the #$%$R to set an office here that:s >ite an imortantrecommendation "ecase !here ever !e are resent in different arts of the !orldor resence on the grond reall* ma'es a difference& ,e are a"le to advise onisses la! reforms instittional reforms all of this !ith the government:s engagementand sort&

,e are also a"le to condct training for e-amle for the olice on ho! to ma'e srethat their interrogation methods are in line !ith hman rights la!s and not se tortre

and give ractical tools on ho! to avoid that& So there is a lot that can "e achieved&

– Snda* #"server / "* an3la 4ernando

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OHCHR Report Calls for Justice and Accountability – Ravina Shamdasani