The Sri Lankan government has ended the special inquiry on human rights violations occurred during the armed conflict.

The Presidential Commission of Inquires was established in 2006 and had a mandate to investigate 16 cases of killings, enforced disappearances and assassinations and other serious abuses occurred since the 1^st of august of 2005.

During the over two year period that this commission has been active, only seven of the 16 cases have been investigated. From these seven cases only four cases have received public hearings and just one has been concluded (the inquiry into the killing of five youths in Trincomalee in January 2006).

The Commission had a slow start up; during the first year all investigations were conducted in camera excluding victims and family members from attending, and prioritizing of the cases responded to an attempt of political an ethnic balance. Another shortcoming of the Commissions performance was not focussing on the failures of the investigations by the police and Attorney General office into the same cases.

According to AI “The failure of this Commission of Inquiry highlights the fact the Sri Lankan government lacks the resources and the will to provide real accountability for human rights violations”. Also Human Rights Watch declared that “the need of an international inquiry is greater than ever”.

For more information:

Sri Lanka: Presidential Commission of Inquiry fails citizens - Amnesty International

Sri Lanka: International Investigation Needed - Human Rights Watch