US Congressional lawmakers urge strong action against Sri Lanka for Torture

Siva Parameswaran

Twelve members of the U.S. Congress have urged Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to ensure the United States holds Sri Lanka accountable under the Convention against Torture.

Their letter speaks about the brutal torture endured by the Tamils at the hands of the military and other government agencies.

Led by Democratic Congresswoman Summer Lee from Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional district for over a decade, they have called upon the US government to “formally hold Sri Lanka responsible for its human rights abuses and violations of International humanitarian law carried out against the Tamil people”.

In their bipartisan letter, they have called on the Biden administration to follow Article 30 of the UN Convention Against Torture and hold the island nation which has “consistently failed to make tangible progress toward justice and accountability”.

In their joint letter addressed to Blinken members of the Congress representing both the Democrats and Republicans demand the State Department to hold Sri Lanka legally accountable to the UN convention on Torture.

“In our view, the impunity enjoyed by Sri Lankan perpetrators, which has also enabled Sri Lanka’s economic and political crises, is counter to America’s commitment to upholding human rights and democratic principles and must be stopped,” the lawmakers led by Congressional Representatives Summer Lee (Democrat-Pennsylvania) and  Bill Johnson (Republican-Ohia) wrote.

The dozen signatories allege the government and the military of Sri Lanka of committing serious international crimes.

“The Sri Lankan government and military are credibly accused of committing international crimes during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict with the LTTE. Of which particular concern are Sri Lanka’s action from January through May 2009, when the Sri Lankan Military intentionally shelled Tamil civilians and civilian objects, including hospitals, in so-called No Fire Zones”.

In their letter, they also pointed out the sexual abuses carried out by the military against the Tamil population during the war.

“The Sri Lankan government and military raped and sexually mutilated hundreds of Tamil women and girls before or after killing them; extrajudicially executed LTTE members who had surrendered with white flags; and forcibly disappeared both LTTE members and Tamil civilians whose fates remain unknown”.

Writing about the numbers killed during the final phase of war, the Congressional lawmakers say in the last five months the number of Tamil people unaccounted for and presumed to have been killed from 40,00 to 169,766.

Speaking about the lack of accountability they say Sri Lanka is harbouring a culture of rewarding people who have committed grave human rights violations rather than face trial. 

“Instead of investigating and prosecuting allegations independently, the Sri Lankan government has rewarded many alleged war criminals with high-ranking political or military leadership positions, which some still hold today”.

The US lawmakers letter to Blinken also speaks about the persistent militarization in the North-East, perpetuated land grabs, displacement, and repression of the right to memorialize.

Expressing their deep sense of anguish about the impunity the Congressional representatives have called in unfortunate.

“That the Sri Lankan government and military could commit such horrific crimes against Tamil people with total impunity is, unfortunately, unsurprising given Sri Lanka’s long history of torture and related human rights violations. Tamils have long been subjected to the Sri Lankan security forces ‘almost universal practice’ of torture and ill-treating those in their custody, even before the armed conflict began in 1983”.

Laws like the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) have been used to facilitate such violations against the Tamils, their letter says. Adding further their letter says PTA has been used since 1979 to disproportionately target Tamils and Muslims including human rights defenders and journalists, with arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearances, and torture. 

Holding successive Sri Lankan governments responsible of not making tangible progress towards justice and accountability, including non-recurrence, reconciliation, and a political solution, the signatories emphasize such failures underscore the need for international action to achieve meaningful justice for Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka.

“Since 2011, civil and criminal cases on behalf of Tamil victims and survivors have been filed in third-party states, including the United States, against Sri Lankan political and military leaders responsible for international crimes, including torture”.  

Commenting strongly on the inaction of the state and lack of political will they allege, legal actions have not achieved justice, said the Congressional representatives.

“Consequently, no alleged Sri Lankan government or military perpetrator has been held responsible for international crimes in or outside Sri Lanka”.

Therefore, they have urged the State Department to follow Article 30 of the Convention against Torture and hold Sri Lanka formally responsible for breaching its treaty obligations regarding torture. Also, they have suggested a three-pronged strategy to ensure accountability and end the culture of impunity, and save the alleged perpetrators.

Suggesting to achieve this through formal negotiations in the first place and if those negotiations fail or become futile or deadlocked the next step shall be through arbitration. In the event of the dispute not being resolved within six months, the US lawmakers have said, their government should bring a claim against Sri Lanka to the International Court of Justice.

The joint letter has been signed by representatives Summer Lee, Bill Johnson, Danny K. Davis, James P. McGovern, Jamie Raskin, Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, Deborah K. Ross, Donald G. Davis, Jeff Jackson, Wiley Nickel, and Brad Sherman.

Various Human Rights organizations including PEARL have supported the bipartisan US Congressional letter to the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.