Aftermath Sri Lankan Civil War

1 aftermath

1.1 political solution
1.2 lessons learnt , reconciliation commission
1.3 humanitarian impact
1.4 detainees
1.5 land mines
1.6 protests
1.7 war crimes investigations

aftermath
a political solution

after complete military defeat of ltte, president mahinda rajapaksa announced government committed political solution, , purpose action taken based on 13th amendment constitution. pro-ltte political party tamil national alliance (tna), largest political group representing sri lankan tamil community, dropped demand separate state, in favour of federal solution. there ongoing bilateral talks between president rajapaksa s upfa government , tna, on viable political solution , devolution of power.

however, in interview headlines today, television channel india, gotabaya rajapaksa, defence secretary of sri lanka , brother of president mahinda rajapaksa binned political solution talk , asserting, among other things, irrelevant because have ended terrorism in sri lanka.

lessons learnt , reconciliation commission

following end of war in may 2009, amid mounting international pressure inquiry final stages of war, president rajapaksa appointed lessons learnt , reconciliation commission (llrc) @ sri lankan civil war, , provide recommendations era of healing , peace building. commission concluded sri lankan military didn t deliberately target civilians in no fire zones. commission acknowledged hospitals had been shelled, resulting in considerable civilian casualties , did not responsible shelling. commission blamed sinhalese , tamil politicians causing civil war: sinhalese politicians failed offer solution acceptable tamil people , tamil politicians fanned militant separatism. commission has been heavily criticised human rights groups , un secretary-general s panel of experts on accountability due limited mandate, alleged lack of independence , failure meet minimum international standards or offer protection witnesses.

humanitarian impact

towards end of war, sri lankan government forces advanced deeper tamil tiger controlled areas, international concern grew fate of 350,000 civilians trapped. on 21 january 2009, sri lankan military declared 32 square kilometres (12.4 mi) safe zone located northwest of puthukkudiviruppu, between a35 highway , chalai lagoon. sri lankan air force aircraft dropped leaflets urging civilians relocate safe zone , wait until army move them safer locations. sri lankan military promised not fire area. however, small numbers of civilians crossed safe zone, , sri lankan government, united nations, , human rights organisations accused ltte of preventing civilians leaving. fighting caused civilians flee safe zone narrow strip of land between nanthi kadal , indian ocean. sri lankan military declared new 10-square-kilometre (3.9 sq mi) safe zone northwest of mullaitivu on 12 february. on next 3 months, sri lankan military repeatedly attacked safe zone aircraft , artillery destroy last remnants of tamil tigers trapped there. sri lankan government claimed trying hit tamil tiger positions, , claimed these raids started on 15 february , ended on 19 april, day before army breached tamil tiger defences, , civilians started pour out. however, these attacks caused heavy damage. thousands of civilians killed or injured, , tamil tigers reportedly held many human shields.

the final stages of war created 300,000 internally displaced persons (idps) transferred camps in vavuniya district , detained there against will. camps surrounded barbed wire. this, conditions inside camps, attracted criticism inside , outside sri lanka. after end of civil war president rajapaksa gave assurances foreign diplomats bulk of idps resettled in accordance 180-day plan. january 2012, idps had been resettled, except 6,554 divisional secretariats of mullaitivu district, de-mining work yet finished.

since 1983, civil war caused mass outflow of tamil civilians sri lanka south india. after end of war, 5,000 of them returned country. of july 2012, 68,152 sri lankans living in south india refugees.

detainees

the continuous defeats of ltte had made cadres abandon outfit in large numbers. end of hostilities, 11,664 ltte members, including on 500 child soldiers surrendered sri lankan military. among them 1,601 females. government took action rehabilitate these cadres under national action plan re-integration of ex-combatants . divided 3 categories; hardcore, non-combatants, , forcefully recruited (including child soldiers). 24 rehabilitation centres set in jaffna, batticaloa , vavuniya. among apprehended cadres, there had been 700 hardcore members. of these cadres integrated state intelligence services tackle internal , external networks of ltte. january 2012, government had released more 11,000 cadres, , 4 rehabilitation centres , 550 detainees remained.

land mines

the end of war left past conflict zones of 2,061sq.km heavily contaminated approximately 1.6 million land mines. january 2012, deminers employed sri lankan army , 8 foreign funded agencies had cleared 1,934sq.km leaving 127sq.km yet cleared.

since end of war, more 5,000 tamil youths have been gathering @ selected police stations in eastern province join police force government has called interviews. sri lankan government had planned recruit 2,000 new police officers department, services in northern region of country.

protests


canadian tamils block university avenue, toronto demonstrating against sri lankan forces.

tamil diaspora communities around world protested civilian casualties in northern province, sri lanka , war in general. active protests occurred in major and/or capital cities of india, united kingdom, canada, australia, norway, switzerland, denmark, germany , united states. collective objective of protests persuade world national leaders stop civil war , bring permanent ceasefire internationally coordinated diplomatic strategy.

war crimes investigations

in march 2014, united nations human rights commission drafted resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability , human rights in sri lanka , requested high commissioner ms. navi pillay undertake comprehensive investigation alleged serious violations , human rights abuses have taken place during war. subsequently, human rights commissioner directed setting of ohchr investigation in sri lanka (oisl).

the sri lankan state accused of perpetuating war crimes, has reportedly refused cooperate inquiry. in august 2014, state rejected entry visas investigating u.n. officials. 2 months later, in october, sri lankan government banned foreigners visiting former war zone altogether.