15 years of offical peace in Sri Lanka

2024 marks the 15th anniversary of the end of the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka. In the last phase of the war, hundreds of thousands of Tamils were displaced within a few months and indiscriminately bombed from the air, ground and water, even in explicitly declared „no fire zones“, on a final remaining beach strip near Mullivaikal in the north-east of the island, creating a new example of global warfare in the name of counter-terrorism. Conservative estimates put the number of casualties at around 40-70,000 in very view weeks only.
To date, there has been no investigation or prosecution of the events, which according to UN experts in international law are to be categorised as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Although the Sri Lankan government once again presented a draft law for a new Truth, Unity and Reconciliation Commission in 2024, the conditions for a credible truth-finding process are still not in place. Tens of thousands of families of the disappeared are still searching for their loved ones and are exposed to a continuity of intimidation, arrests and violence.
The recently published report by the United Nations Sri Lanka Accountability Project is the first to systematically outline how the lack of investigation and previous impunity for the crimes prevents justice for the victims. The report impressively describes how this creates a social climate that continues to enable forms of exclusion, discrimination, abuse and disappearances against the Tamil minority, human rights activists and journalists and creates deep re-traumatisation.
The results of the report will be presented at the event by Annemarie Devereux, head of the OHCHR project, and conclusions will be discussed.

Greeting by Niels Helle-Meyer, Vice-President of the Humboldt University of Berlin
Greeting by Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Keynote: Annemarie Devereux, Head of OSLAP at OHCHR
Comment: Tamil Human Right Activist WHRD, Sri Lanka/Northern Province
Comment: Andreas Schüller, Programme Manager International Crimes and Accountability, ECCHR