Sri Lanka’s Transitional Justice Plan Is Toast

Amnesty International has recently published a report that looks at Sri Lanka’s progress on transitional justice, and commitments the government made at the United National Human Rights Council (HRC).

Unsurprisingly, things aren’t looking good; the report does a good job of explaining that.

The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is finally operational, but other transitional justice mechanisms haven’t been created. And it’s still hard to say how effective the OMP will be.

Sri Lanka’s progress on transitional justice will come under heightened scrutiny during the HRC’s 40th session in March. There’s talk of a new resolution being passed on Sri Lanka. There’s also the possibility that the current resolution will be “rolled over.”

Frankly, it’s really hard imagine that another HRC resolution would be useful; I’ve been saying this for a while now. Quite evidently, it’s an argument that still needs to be made.

Sri Lanka has never been serious about implementing a credible and comprehensive transitional justice program. Besides, after the recent political crisis in the country, it’s become increasingly clear the President Maithripala Sirisena isn’t even particularly keen on adhering to the country’s constitution and basic democratic precepts.