After a 26-year long internal conflict claimed more than 70,000 lives and displaced some one million people, Sri Lanka now faces the challenge of building an inclusive, multi-ethnic state and pursuing accountability for all violations committed during the conflict.
Between 1983 and 2009, the Sri Lankan government fought a brutal war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the island. At least 70,000 people are estimated to have been killed and some one million displaced during the 26-year long conflict. The Government of Sri Lanka declared victory over the LTTE in May 2009.
While the end of the decades-long conflict in Sri Lanka was widely welcomed, there is serious concern about the conduct of both sides in the final stages of the war. The UN estimates that at least 7,000 people were killed from January to May 2009.
In 2011, a panel of experts advising UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on accountability in Sri Lanka reported that “a number of allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by both the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka are credible, some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.” This report is disputed by Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Since the conflict ended, non-governmental organisations continue to document human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, these include lack of humanitarian access to displaced communities, lack of consultation with communities in the resettlement process and threats to media freedoms.
Meaningful progress towards reconciliation among all of Sri Lanka’s ethnic communities has been slow. Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims remain polarised after decades of political violence and conflict, and fears and suspicions have become deeply ingrained in each community. Increasing authoritarianism has only exacerbated these divisions.