Report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL)* **
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A/HRC/30/CRP.2 Advance Version Distr.: Restricted 16 September 2015 English only Human Rights Council Thirtieth session Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL)* ** * Reproduced as received ** The information contained in this document should be read in conjunction with the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights- Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka (A/HRC/30/61). A/HRC/30/CRP.2 Contents Paragraphs Page Part 1 I. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1–13 5 II. Establishment of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), mandate and methodology ............................................................................................................. 14–46 7 III. Contextual background ........................................................................................... 47–103 12 IV. Overview of Government, LTTE and other armed groups...................................... 104–170 22 V. Legal framework ..................................................................................................... 171–208 36 Part 2– Thematic Chapters VI. Unlawful killings ..................................................................................................... 209–325 47 VII. Violations related to the deprivation of liberty ........................................................ 326–385 71 VIII. Enforced disappearance ........................................................................................... 386–531 81 IX Torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment ........................ 532–570 109 X. Sexual and gender-based violence .......................................................................... 571–631 117 XI. Abduction of adults and forced recruitment ............................................................ 632–655 128 XII. Recruitment and use of children in hostilities ......................................................... 656–727 132 XIII. The impact of hostilities on civilians and civilian objects ....................................... 728–887 145 XIV Controls on movement ............................................................................................ 888–934 177 XV. Denial of humanitarian assistance ........................................................................... 935–1022 185 XVI. Screening and deprivation of liberty of internally displaced persons in closed camps ....................................................................................................... 1023–1112 202 Part 3 XVII. Principal findings of OISL investigation ................................................................. 1113–1174 219 XVIII. Justice and accountability ........................................................................................ 1175–1264 229 XIX. Conclusions and recommendations ......................................................................... 1265–1281 245 Annexes Terms of reference. .......................................................................................................................... 252 Call for submissions ......................................................................................................................... 256 Letter from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Government of Sri Lanka......... 258 Map of Sri Lanka ............................................................................................................................. 261 2 A/HRC/30/CRP.2 Glossary ACF Action Contre la Faim AGA Assistant Government Agent (local Government official) CCHA Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance CCP Code of Criminal Procedure CDS Chief of Defence Staff CFA Ceasefire Agreement CGES Commissioner General of Essential Services CID Criminal Investigation Department CoI Commission of Inquiry DIU Disappearances Investigation Unit DMI Director Military Intelligence ENDLF Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front EPDP Eelam People's Democratic Party EPRLF Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front EROS Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students FDL Forward Defence Line GA Government Agent (local Government official) GoSL Government of Sri Lanka HRC Human Rights Council ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDP Internally Displaced Person IGP Inspector General of Police IIGEP International Independent Group of Eminent Persons ILO International Labour Organization INGO International Non-governmental Organization IOM International Organization for Migration JOC Joint Operations Command JOH Joint Operations Headquarters JVP Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna LLRC Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam MOD Minister of Defence MRM Monitoring and Reporting mechanism NFZ No Fire Zone NGO Non-governmental Organization NIB National Intelligence Bureau OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights PLOTE People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam PTA Prevention of Terrorism Act PTK Puthukkukiyiruppu PTOMS Post Tsunami Operation Management Structure SFHQ Security Forces Headquarters SLA Sri Lanka Army SLAF Sri Lanka Air Force 3 A/HRC/30/CRP.2 SLMM Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission SLN Sri Lanka Navy SLP Sri Lanka Police SRSG-CAAC Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict SSP Senior Superintendent of Police STF Special Task Force (Police) TELO Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization TID Terrorist Investigation Division TJ Transitional Justice TMVP Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF UN Children's Fund UNOCHA United Nations Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs UNRC/HC United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator UTHR University Teachers for Human Rights WFP World Food Programme WS Witness Statement 4 A/HRC/30/CRP.2 Part 1 I. Introduction 1. In Resolution 25/1, adopted in March 2014, the Human Rights Council requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to “undertake a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)1 and to establish the facts and circumstances of such alleged violations and of the crimes perpetrated with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability, with assistance from relevant experts and special procedures mandate holders”. 2. The request for a comprehensive investigation followed increasing international and national concerns about the absence of a credible national process of accountability to address the extensive atrocities – including allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity - allegedly committed towards the end of the conflict in 2009 by both the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The mandate given for the investigation however, covering a time period from February 2002 to November 2011, is much broader than the end of the conflict. 3. The human rights crisis in Sri Lanka which led to the Human Rights Council’s resolution was not recent, nor was it just related to the final phases of the conflict. It is also not only confined to the years covered by OISL mandate but dates back through decades of conflict affecting all communities in Sri Lanka. The Ceasefire Agreement of February 2002, which marks the start of the period covered by OISL, brought some respite after years of armed conflict, but it did not bring peace, nor an end to patterns of violations and abuse. It also did not address the root causes of the armed conflict, such as discrimination, economic marginalisation and a pernicious ethnicised form of politics. 4. This report is organised in a series of thematic chapters on unlawful killings, violations related to the deprivation of liberty, enforced disappearance, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, the abduction and forced recruitment of adults and the recruitment and use of children in hostilities. Subsequent thematic chapters document the impact of hostilities on civilians and civilian objects in the final few months of the conflict, as well as controls on movement and the denial of humanitarian assistance, followed by a chapter on the screening and deprivation of liberty of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in military- guarded closed camps. 5. It is important at the outset to stress that the OISL conducted a human rights investigation, not a criminal investigation. The timeframe covered by the investigation, the extent of the violations, the large amount of available information, as well as the constraints to the investigation, including lack of access to Sri Lanka and witness protection concerns posed enormous challenges. Nevertheless, the investigation report has attempted to identify the patterns of persistent and large scale violations of international human rights and humanitarian law that occurred, not only during the last phases of the armed conflict, but during the whole period covered by OISL and prior to it. 1 The LLRC was set up by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010 to “inquire into and report on the facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the Ceasefire