A growing rights crisis in Sri Lanka

What is the issue?

The human rights situation in Sri Lanka has worsened since Gotabaya Rajapaksa became President in 2019.
The issue gains significance with the next session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) set to take place.

What happened in the 2005 - 2015 period?

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the defence secretary in the government led by his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa from 2005 to 2015.
This period was marked by many human rights abuses.
Critics of the government were murdered, tortured, and forcibly made to disappear.
Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the civil war between government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The war ended in 2009, with both sides responsible for numerous war crimes.
In the final months of the war, the armed forces indiscriminately shelled civilians and summarily executed suspected LTTE fighters.

What happened with the shift in Presidency in 2015?

When Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the 2015 presidential election, there was hope for change.
There was greater freedom of expression.
The repressive and heavily militarised situation in Tamil-majority areas began to improve.
The new government supported a consensus resolution at the Human Rights Council.
This offered victims of abuses and their families, truth, justice, and reconciliation.

What is the present situation?

The human rights situation has worsened since Gotabaya Rajapaksa became the President in 2019.
Tamil communities in the north and the east now fear increasing abuses.
Since 2020, singing the national anthem in Tamil has been dropped from Independence Day celebrations.
The religious rights of minorities are under attack, including interference with Hindu temples.
In January 2021, the authorities bulldozed a memorial at Jaffna university that commemorated Tamil civilian victims of the civil war.
People who participated in a protest march in February 2021 are now facing criminal investigation.
The Rajapaksa government, in 2020, renounced its commitments under the 2015 Human Rights Council resolution.
- It is now threatening victims’ families and activists who supported it.
A presidential commission was set up to investigate “political victimisation” of officials by the previous government.
- It has recommended the acquittal of those implicated in cases of abuse.
Also, numerous people who were involved in war crimes have been appointed to senior roles.

The Rajapaksa government has shown outright disdain for accountability.
In October 2020, the government amended the Constitution to remove constraints on political interference in Sri Lanka’s courts.

What is the global response?

Since 2012, the Human Rights Council has sought to work with Sri Lanka to promote reconciliation and accountability.
And India has backed these efforts.
But Sri Lanka is now rejecting that endeavour.
Instead, it is proposing a new domestic commission that UN experts have dismissed as lacking credibility or independence.

What should be done?

At the session, the UNHRC will face a crucial test in taking action for protecting vulnerable Sri Lankans and upholding international law.
The UNHRC should recognise the Sri Lankan government’s actions for what they are, an effort to impede justice.
A new resolution is urgently needed to protect vulnerable minority communities in Sri Lanka.
The UNHRC must take strict action against the gross abuse of human rights by Sri Lanka.
It should uphold the principle of accountability for the worst crimes.

Why is India’s role significant?

India, as a council member of the UNHRC, will have a key role too.
Indian leaders have committed to supporting the rights of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka to “live with equity, equality, justice, peace and dignity”.
In pledges to the United Nations, the Indian government has also vowed to uphold global human rights.
These commitments have become crucial now.

India should join other member states in supporting a resolution to reduce the growing risk of future atrocities.

Source: The Hindu