Calls for new probe into end of Sri Lankan civil war

Updated May 18, 2010 12:00:57

On the eve of the first anniversary of the formal end to Sri Lanka's long running and bloody civil war, an international human rights group is calling on the United Nations to investigate fresh charges that tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final months of the conflict. In a new report, the International Crisis Group says it has evidence that both the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tiger rebels deliberately shot civilians. The ICG report also says hundreds of thousands of others were deprived of adequate food and medical care. Colombo has repeatedly rejected charges of civilian deaths as grossly exaggerated and denies its military committed war crimes.

Presenter: Linda LoPresti
Speakers: Robert Templer, Asia program Directr, International Crisis Group






LOPRESTI: Robert Templer there have been allegations about civilian deaths before in Sri Lanka. What's the fresh evidence that you have?

TEMPLER: Well we have considerable evidence gathered from eyewitnesses who were in the conflict zone throughout the last five months of the civil war. We also have photographs, video, electronic communications and a great many statements from people who were there. So it's a fairly substantial body of evidence.

LOPRESTI: Are you able to put, taking all that evidence into account, are you able to put a more accurate figure on the casualty toll a year after the conflict ended?

TEMPLER: It's very difficult to say with any certainty. It would be possible to find out if there was a full investigation and if for example the Sri Lankan government issued death certificates to family members. But we do believe that it's certainly in the tens of thousands and certainly much higher than the figures given by the United Nations or by the Sri Lankan government.

LOPRESTI: Have you put these latest allegations to the government of Sri Lanka, and if so what response have you had?

TEMPLER: We actually sent them three weeks before we published this report and we didn't get any response from them.

LOPRESTI: There' also compelling evidence there of human rights violations by the Tamil Tiger rebels. What can you tell us about that?

TEMPLER: Well it's certainly clear that the LTTE killed civilians who were trying to escape from the conflict area. There's also substantial evidence that they denied medical treatment to civilians resulting in their deaths. And there's considerable evidence that they engaged in what is legally described as cruel treatment towards civilians by keeping them within the conflict zone.

LOPRESTI: So Robert Templer are you wanting the United Nations to step in at this point?

TEMPLER: Well we do feel that there needs to be an international investigation and the United Nations is probably best placed to do that. Although the United Nations itself needs to examine its own behaviour during the conflict. But I do think there needs to be an international investigation because the Sri Lankan government has a long history of engaging in somewhat fraudulent commissions of inquiry and other activities that never reach any conclusion, and certainly never result in any prosecutions or arrests. So I think it's impossible now for the international community to impress on the Sri Lankans that there is a need for a full inquiry.

LOPRESTI: Because your group, the International Crisis Group, has in the past recommended that the UN itself should open an inquiry into its own conduct in Sri Lanka. So are you hopeful of any movement here?

TEMPLER: Well these sorts of things take a long time. If you look at Argentina they're now investigating and prosecuting crimes that happened in the 1970's; likewise trials in Cambodia for Khmer Rouge activities in the 1970s have only just got going. So I don't believe anything will happen in the short term, but I do think that there's a need to gather and preserve evidence, which is what we've done, and also to ensure that there is a continuous pressure on the Sri Lankan government to examine these very serious allegations.

LOPRESTI: Well the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has recently named an eight-member panel to draw lessons from the war in terms of reconciliation and preventing future violence. Is that a step forward in your view?

TEMPLER: No I think this is just another sort of attempt to divert attention by the Sri Lankan government. They're very skilled at coming up with these sorts of commissions just as international pressure mounts on them. But these commissions never end up actually reporting, or if they do report it's a complete whitewash. I mean we've seen it over and over again over 20 years with Sri Lanka. There's been a complete culture of impunity, nobody's ever been punished for very serious crimes that have taken place. So I think in that environment the international community needs to stop being played by the Sri Lankans and actually insist on an international investigation.

LOPRESTI: Indeed I was just about to ask you whether there was any chance that the international community could bring any of the surviving leaders to task?

TEMPLER: Well there certainly are prospects because a number of them are citizens of other countries, including Australia, and therefore they might be liable in those jurisdictions. There are a number of potential civil actions that could be brought against them. The key thing though is really to establish an investigation, a much fuller investigation than the one that we've been able to carry out. Our investigation certainly leads us to believe that there's reasonable evidence to move forward with future investigations, and that it's not impossible to actually gather this investigation now. It's up to governments and law enforcement authorities to start their own investigation.