Page 81 - KDU Law Journal Volume 4 Issue 2

KDU Law Journal Volume 04 Issue II
September, 2024
the flow of water to some 30,000 acres of ripe paddy fields and
60,000 people in nearby villages. In view of the humanitarian
37
operations to open the waterway, the subsequent operations in the
north and east and the final phase of humanitarian operations in
2009, LTTE withdrew forcibly taking a large number of civilians
as “human shields.” So,GOSL launched humanitarain operations
38
to rescue those entrapped civilians in the battle zons in 2009.
Some foreign governments, international and local non-governmental
organizations brought allegations of committing crimes by both
parties. In this backdrop, GOSL appointed a special commission
39
called Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commmission (LLRC) in
2010 with a broad mandate to investigate into five specified matters
spanning from 21 February 2002 to 19 May 2009.
40
Also, UN Human Rights Council in its Resolution 25/1 adopted in March
2014 requested the Office of the High Commmissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) to investigate into the alleged crimes. OHCHR formed a
41
special investigation team on Sri Lanka (OISL) for this purpose. Its Final
Report (OISL Report) was released on 16 September 2015 and contain
11charges of which 09 is against the GOSL and 03 against LTTE.
42
37 M Mayilvaganan, ‘War against the Tamil Tigers: How Did Sri Lanka Win?’ (2023) 2
Journal of Contemporary Politics 55.
38 Joanne Richards, ‘An Institutional History of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)’
(Geneva Graduate Institute 2014) <https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/292651/
files/CCDP-Working-Paper-10-LTTE-1.pdf> accessed 2 July 2024.
39 Anusha Rathi Detsch Jack, ‘Congress Wants to Hold Sri Lanka’s Feet to the Fire on Human
Rights’ (Foreign Policy 21 September 2023) <https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/09/21/
sri-lanka-civil-war-40-years-human-rights-abuse-united-states-congress-biden-united-
nations/> accessed 17 March 2024.
40 Chitta Ranjan De Silva and others, ‘Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lessons
Learnt and Reconciliation’ (2011) <https://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/report-commission-
inquiry-lessons-learnt-and-reconciliation> accessed 2 July 2024., Major General A.W.J.C.
de Silva and Others, ‘LLRC Observations Cleared; Army Commander Hands over Court
of Inquiry Report to Secretary Defense’ (www.army.lk2 July 2024) <https://www.army.
lk/news/llrc-observations-cleared-army-commander-hands-over-court-inquiry-report-
secretary-defence> accessed 2 July 2024.
41 Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights, ‘OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka’
(2014)<https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/oisl#:~:text=In%20its%20resolution%20
A%2FHRC,violations%20and%20abuses%20of%20human> accessed 2 July 2024.
42 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka, ‘Re-
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