2009 Most Wanted List: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's strategic positioning has three world powers vying for influence over the small island nation, increasing the likelihood that opportunities, especially by the United States, to address serious human rights and justice concerns will be pushed aside in favor of a more conciliatory approach to wooing the Sri Lankan government.

The government of Sri Lanka finally defeated the insurgent Tamil Tigers (LTTE) earlier this year -- both sides of the 26-year civil war are responsible for egregious crimes against civilians, and no one has been held to account. Months after the end of the war, stories continue to surface about the harsh treatment of displaced Tamil civilians by government soldiers at camps for the internally displaced, including the sexual abuse of young girls and the summary execution of suspected LTTE-sympathizers. Child soldiers abducted by the LTTE are still being held by the government, despite international calls for their release. The government not only shows no interest in investigating the crimes, but is actively covering them up; according to a UN spokesman, the government is "doing everything it could" to obstruct humanitarian access and international human rights monitoring.

After forcibly holding 280,000 Tamil civilians in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp for six months, the government finally caved to intense international pressure on December 1, announcing the IDPs will be allowed limited freedom of movement. The plight of the IDPs has become an unexpected issue in the country's upcoming presidential election, though it remains unclear whether the condemnation of the government's treatment of the Tamils by the opposition, now led by a career military general, is actually genuine.

The chain of responsibility reaches all the way to the top echelons of power in Sri Lanka, and thus justice for the many victims of government brutality, including the 80,000 - 100,000 who lost their lives, is all the more unlikely. Perpetrators of abuse among the LTTE are now mostly dead, making this a true case of victor's justice.

Opportunities for Change?

The Obama administration, for its part, is still reviewing its Sri Lanka policy, but the outlook for ending the entrenched culture of impunity does not look good: Despite past condemnation of abuses against civilians, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently urged Obama to improve ties with the island nation, which is in both the Chinese and Indian spheres of influence, as a matter of geopolitical interest, and recommended increased aid and incentives for an improved human rights record. Interestingly, members of Congress are scoffing at a similar incentive-laden policy for Sudan, showing that a commitment to human rights is far from steadfast when confronted with the threat of another rising superpower.

Additionally, foreign investment in Sri Lanka has increased dramatically in the few months since the end of the war, despite the fact that government abuse of ethnic Tamils continues. Money talks, and Sri Lanka presents an opportunity for organized consumer boycotts to impact human rights reforms in the country.

Effective pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to improve the treatment of Tamil IDPs is, of course, not to be undermined, but the political reconciliation promoted by American politicians is unlikely if the crimes of the government go unaddressed, and government denial of on-going crimes continues unabated.  Justice in Sri Lanka needs to target those at the top levels of command, and not allow the war's foot soldiers to be sacrificed by those who bear ultimate responsibility.

[Photo by Steve Punter.]