HUMAN OPEN WOUNDS AND RIGHTS MOUNTING DANGERS WATCH Blocking Accountability for Grave Abuses in Sri Lanka Open Wounds and Mounting Dangers Blocking Accountability for Grave Abuses in Sri Lanka Copyright © 2021 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-887-5 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org FEBRUARY 2021 ISBN: 978-1-62313-887-5 Open Wounds and Mounting Dangers Blocking Accountability for Grave Abuses in Sri Lanka Summary ......................................................................................................................... 1 Silencing Victim’s Families and Critics ......................................................................................4 Conflict-Era Violations and Failure of Accountability ................................................................. 6 Protecting and Reinstating Perpetrators .................................................................................... 7 Key Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 10 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 12 I. Deteriorating Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka ...................................................... 13 Suppression of Victims and Critics .......................................................................................... 13 Militarization .......................................................................................................................... 16 Presidential Commission of Inquiry on “Political Victimization” ............................................... 17 Abolition of Constitutional Safeguards .................................................................................... 19 Prevention of Terrorism Act .................................................................................................... 20 Attacks on Minorities .............................................................................................................. 22 II. A History of Conflict and Abuse .................................................................................. 27 Laws of War Violations ............................................................................................................ 30 Targeting No Fire Zones: Attacks on Civilians and Hospitals .............................................. 31 Extrajudicial Killings, Torture, Sexual Violence, and Enforced Disappearances .................. 33 The Killing of 17 ACF Aid Workers ............................................................................................. 37 III. Welikada Prison Massacre, November 9, 2012 ........................................................... 41 IV. Enforced Disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda, January 24, 2010 ............................ 47 V. Tripoli Platoon, Targeting Journalists ......................................................................... 51 Abduction of Keith Noyahr, May 22, 2008 ............................................................................... 51 Murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge, January 8, 2009 .............................................................. 54 VI. “Disappearance” of 11 People by the Navy, 2008-2009 ............................................. 59 VII. “Trinco Five,” January 2, 2006 .................................................................................. 64 VIII. Mirusuvil Massacre, March 26, 2000....................................................................... 70 IX. UN Engagement with International Crimes in Sri Lanka .............................................. 74 Report of Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka .......................... 77 Report of the Secretary-General's Internal Review Panel on UN Action in Sri Lanka—the Petrie Report .................................................................................................................................... 78 Report of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL Report) ................................................. 79 Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 .................................................................................. 82 Reports by UN Special Procedures .......................................................................................... 83 Sri Lankan Government Commissions of Inquiry ...................................................................... 85 Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 88 To the Government of Sri Lanka ............................................................................................. 88 To the Office of the Attorney General ...................................................................................... 89 To the Sri Lanka Police ........................................................................................................... 89 To the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka ....................................................................... 89 To the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Japan, China, India, and Other Governments with Influence in Sri Lanka ................................................................................ 90 To the European Union ........................................................................................................... 91 To International Financial Institutions and Multilateral Donors ................................................ 91 To the United Nations ............................................................................................................. 91 To the UN Human Rights Council ............................................................................................ 92 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................... 93 Appendix: Letter from Human Rights Watch to Attorney-General Dappula De Livera ........ 94 Summary The protection of basic human rights in Sri Lanka is once again at a turning point. Since his election in 2019, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government have waged a campaign of fear and intimidation against human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, and other perceived challengers. The administration has pursued policies hostile to ethnic and religious minorities and repressed those seeking justice for abuses committed during the country’s 26-year civil war that ended in 2009. Fundamental democratic freedoms and fragile post-war reconciliation are in danger. This report details how the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government is blocking investigations into some emblematic cases of serious violations, documents ongoing repression of minority groups, and highlights the intimidation of activists and family members of victims seeking accountability. The government has withdrawn from a 2015 consensus resolution (known as resolution 30/1) of the United Nations Human Rights Council that sought to ensure justice and end impunity; and has claimed an end to the “era of betraying war heroes” and “allowing foreign forces to interfere in the internal affairs of the country.” The secessionist insurgency of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) led to serious human rights abuses by both sides and claimed over 100,000 lives. This report finds that, notwithstanding the Sri Lankan government’s claims to be committed to a domestic justice process—despite many that have failed in the past—several police investigations into human rights violations that had made modest progress since 2015 have since been derailed under Rajapaksa’s presidency. On March 26, 2020, President Rajapaksa even pardoned Sgt. Sunil Ratnayake, one of very few members of the Sri Lankan security forces ever convicted of human rights violations. At the same time, several officials facing serious allegations of wartime abuses have been appointed to senior government positions. Sri Lanka now presents an acute challenge to the United Nations’ commitment to upholding international human rights and humanitarian law in the face of grave crimes. Since the conflict, UN member countries have invested in accountability for serious crimes committed during the conflict and in building rights-respecting institutions. In view of Sri Lanka’s current backsliding and intransigence on impunity, it is crucial that foreign governments, donors, and international institutions now reinforce efforts to promote 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2021 accountability, starting with a resolution at the Human Rights Council session beginning in February 2021 to maintain scrutiny of Sri Lanka’s human rights situation. The resolution should