Page 75 - KDU Law Journal Volume 4 Issue 2

KDU Law Journal Volume 04 Issue II
September, 2024
in compatible with the modern principles of IHL.
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Methodology
This study adopted traditional doctrinal legal research methodology
combined with qualitative approach based on literature survey. Two
types of primary sources were perused for this study, i.e. international
and municipal sources. International conventions, treaties, judicial
decisions, and customary international legal principles were used
as international primary sources. For local sources, Sri Lankan
government reports, official communications, circulars, and meeting-
minutes relating to the provision of humanitarian assistance were
used. Secondary sources include the relevant scholarly works such
as textbooks, journal articles and other relevant materials. The
main research problem is; did the Government of Sri Lanka deny
humanitarian assistance to civilians during the last phase of her
military operations against separatist Tamil Tiger militants that ended
in 2009? And therefore, whether the charge of denial of humanitarian
assistance to civilians by the GOSL as alleged by the Office of the
High Commissioner of Human Rights are based on credible evidence?

IHL and the Legality on the Provision of Humanitarian
Assistance
The constant armed conflicts in the world gave rise to a new branch
of Public International Law known as International Humanitarian Law
(IHL). The main focus of IHL is not to proscribe war but to prescribe
limitations on the means of war and mitigate violence. For this purpose,
IHL lays down certain mandatory rules and procedures to save life,
property and limit violence.
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14 Raja Goonaratne, ‘An Analysis of the War between King Dutugamunu and Elara from
the Perspectives of International Humanitarian Law’ <https://conf.kln.ac.lk/iprc/media/
attachments/2023/11/21/tentative-program-book.pdf> accessed 20 March 2024., Raja
Goonaratne, ‘A Comparative Study of the Legal Theory and Practice in Ancient Sri Lanka
as Evinced by Epigraphic Records’ (PhD Thesis) 509.
15 Marco Sassoli and Others, How Does Law Protect in War? : Cases, Documents and
Teaching Materials on Contemporary Practice in International Humanitarian Law (Icrc
2011)
law.faculty@kdu.ac.lk
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