As Sri Lanka marks the 16th anniversary of its military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), international scrutiny over its human rights record has intensified. While the government commemorates May 18, 2009, as a triumph over terrorism, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has slammed the administration for continued impunity, broken promises, and repression of Tamil communities.
In a strongly worded statement, Minakshi Ganguly, HRW’s Deputy Asia Director, highlighted how Tamil families once again gathered to mourn their war dead last weekend an annual act of remembrance that continues to be marred by state surveillance and suppression.
“Despite overwhelming evidence from the United Nations and human rights groups of war crimes and human rights violations committed by state security forces, successive governments have failed to launch any credible accountability process,” said Ganguly. “Tamil activists and the affected community continue to face repression and other violations.”
The civil war, which spanned from 1983 to 2009, ended with the total defeat of the LTTE by government forces. However, the final phase of the war was marked by alleged atrocities including executions, sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and indiscriminate shelling of civilians. While both sides were accused of violations, the Sri Lankan state has largely escaped accountability, despite repeated international demands.
Hope in Dissanayake’s Presidency Fading
HRW noted that many Tamil voters supported President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the last election, hoping he would break away from the pattern of denial and discrimination that defined previous administrations. However, according to Ganguly, “They are now disappointed.”
She criticized Dissanayake’s continued support for institutions like the Office for Missing Persons, Office for Reparations, and Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, labeling them as part of “a pattern of failed promises.” Many families of the disappeared have rejected these initiatives as symbolic rather than substantive.
The PTA Still in Play
The government also faces criticism for its continued use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), a law internationally condemned for facilitating arbitrary detentions and torture. Despite pledges especially to the European Union—to repeal or reform the act, the government continues to enforce it, disproportionately targeting Tamil individuals and activists.
International Accountability Efforts Gaining Ground
Ganguly emphasized the role of the UN Human Rights Council, which has tasked the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights with monitoring and collecting evidence through the Sri Lanka Accountability Project. The project’s mandate is up for renewal in September, and Human Rights Watch warns that without international pressure, accountability will continue to stall.
President Dissanayake’s government has denounced the Council’s involvement, calling it “divisive and invasive” a stance that HRW sees as a refusal to confront past atrocities.
HRW concluded its statement by urging the Sri Lankan government to demonstrate genuine commitment to justice. “The government should support the renewal of the accountability project, not pretend that discredited domestic initiatives are working,” Ganguly stated.
As Sri Lanka remembers the end of its decades-long war, the world watches not just what it celebrates but what it continues to ignore.
