Sri Lanka war crimes

The Tribunal determined that the following acts were committed by the government of Sri Lanka: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group and acting with the specific intent of destruction of a protected group. It also found that there was continuity of genocide through ongoing acts of genocide and that the state deliberately inflicted on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

The new government of President Maithripala Sirisena undertook in 2015 to allow an internationally supervised investigation into the massacre which took place at the end of the civil war. This undertaking followed a UN Human rights Council resolution on 24 September 2015 calling for such an investigation.

However responding to growing pressure from within Sri Lanka, Sirisena has pulled back from implementing the decision. Visiting Sri Lanka in March 2016, the UN Human rights Commissioner, Zeid Ra 'ad al Hussein said it was important the investigation took place, so that Sri Lanka could learn from its past mistakes. Australia has done nothing to encourage Sri Lanka to comply.

In the light of ongoing allegations of torture in Sri Lanka, Hussein renewed his criticism of Australia for turning back boats with asylum seekers. The Director of Freedom from Torture, Sonya Sceats, said in 2016 her organisation had received eight allegations of torture in Sri Lanka in the past year. She said a culture of torture was deeply entrenched in the Sri Lankan police and military.

Meanwhile in August 2016 Immigration Minister Peter Dutton returned asylum seekers to Sri Lanka who had been attempting to reach Australia by boat. Australia has not pressed Sri Lanka to comply with the UN resolution.