Sri Lankan government must take accountability for sexual violence, activists say News
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Sri Lankan government must take accountability for sexual violence, activists say

The Sri Lankan government must take action and accountability for conflict-related sexual violence, Amnesty International said Tuesday following the release of a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

In a statement, Amnesty International urged the government to “to end impunity and publicly commit to a timeline” for “truth, justice, and reparations” by following the recommendations in the report. These include taking “immediate and concrete steps” to recognize the state use of sexual violence in the past, make a formal apology, and prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict.

The report draws on more than a decade of investigations by the OHCHR and other UN bodies, covering the years before, during, and after the conflict between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, which lasted from 1983 to 2009. Throughout the period, the report states that sexual violence was used on a large scale as a “method of intimidation, punishment, and control over conflicted-affected populations,” primarily targeting Tamils. It highlights the pervasive and systemic nature of sexual violence in conflict, and the ongoing failure of the government to ensure accountability. It further addresses the intimidation and stigma faced by survivors, the issue of impunity, and the restoration of dignity.

OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told journalists in Geneva that “conflict-related sexual violence in Sri Lanka remains largely unaddressed with survivors, both men and women, still being denied long-overdue justice.”

Smriti Singh, Amnesty International’s South Asia director, said of the report:

“It reaffirms the widely-known truth that sexual violence against members of the Tamil community was ‘deliberate, widespread, and systemic.’ It also rightly recognizes that some of these acts may have amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The UN Human Rights Council mandated in March 2021 that the OHCHR monitor human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Sexual violence in conflict constitutes a serious violation of international law under the Geneva Convention.

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