Three leading international organisations have refused to testify before a Sri Lankan government commission, saying in a statement that the commission lacks the ability to advance accountability for war crimes.

In a joint letter published Thursday, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group and Amnesty International stated that they "would welcome the opportunity to appear before a genuine, credible effort to pursue political reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka", but that Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) does not meet minimum international standards.

The statement further points out that the LLRC government war panel lacks mandate, credibility and independence and is proceeding against a backdrop of government failure to address impunity and continuing human rights abuses.

Cynical attempt
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa established the Commission in May 2010. His action was an apparent attempt to deflect calls for an international investigation into alleged war violations during the final months of the quarter-century-long armed conflict between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in May 2009.

"Thousands of civilians were killed in the last few months of the war as a result of grave violations of international law by both government and LTTE forces," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "This Commission is nothing more than a cynical attempt by Sri Lanka to avoid a serious inquiry that would bring genuine accountability."

The Commission's mandate, which focuses on the breakdown of the 2002 ceasefire between the government and the LTTE, does not explicitly require it to investigate alleged war crimes during the conflict, nor has the Commission shown any apparent interest in investigating such allegations in its hearings to date, Thursday's statement said.

Witness protection
The organisations' letter also cited the absence of any provisions to protect witnesses who may wish to testify. The lack of witness protection is particularly crippling in the current environment in Sri Lanka, in which government officials contend that anyone who alleges that government forces might have committed abuses are "traitors."

Moreover, despite the end of the conflict, the country is still operating under a state of emergency that criminalizes political speech and under which there has been no meaningful investigation of attacks on government critics. This undermines the Commission's ability to conduct credible investigations of alleged violations of international or national law, the organisations said.

Concerns
The groups refer in their letter to existing concerns that have already been published in a number of reports.

"Accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka demands an independent international investigation. There is little to be gained by appearing before such a fundamentally flawed commission," said Roth.
The Commission lacks independence, as its members include people who were senior government officials during the final years of the war and who were outspoken in defense of the government's wartime conduct. Other members worked for the Sri Lankan government in the past.

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