Sri Lanka 131210 Permanent Peoples Tribunal on Sri Lanka Judgement: Full Document

Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka

 07-10 December 2013

In the First Session of the Permanent People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka, held in Dublin in January 2010 it was established that War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity had been committed by the Government of Sri Lanka and were continuing up to the moment of the judgment.

The first Tribunal noted: “Although the charge of genocide was not included in the inquiry requested of the Tribunal, some of the organizations and persons that gave testimony insisted that it be recognized that genocide occurred, or may have occurred, against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka. There was not enough evidence presented before the Tribunal to determine that the crime of genocide be added to the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

So, the DublinTribunal concluded that,

“Some of the facts presented should be investigated thoroughly, as possible acts of genocide. Such facts include the following:

– A possible pattern of forced “disappearances” of Tamil individuals carried out by the Sri Lankan armed forces and by paramilitary forces with the acquiescence of the State, directed against crucial members of the Tamil community (journalists, physicians, politicians) to destroy, as Lemkin said, “the grounds for the continuity of the life of the group” (in this case, the Tamil group); and

– The persistence of the situation of the Tamil population in the IDP camps; the continuity of shootings, systematic rape and forced disappearances; the widespread destruction of infrastructure in those parts of the country where there is a concentration of Tamils; and the lack of food, medicine and other fundamental needs for the continuity of life of the Tamil people.”

The Dublin Tribunal concluded: “Although the facts listed above are current, we have not received enough evidence to include them as charges. However, The Tribunal acknowledges the importance of continuing investigation into the possibility of genocide.”

After three years of collecting evidence and due to the continuing serious situation of the Eelam Tamil population in Sri Lanka, the Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka and the Internationaler Menschenrechtsverein Bremen requested a Second Session of the PPT on Sri Lanka, to deal with the accusations of genocide and the complicity of other States in the commission of genocide in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka 131210 Permanent Peoples Tribunal on Sri Lanka Judgement: Full Document

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