The Silence of Sri Lanka  

I’ve written a joint article with Bernard Kouchner in today’s International Herald Tribune calling on the Sri Lankan government to respond to a damning UN report alleging serious violations of international law during the conflict with the Tamil Tigers in 2009. The report provides substantial evidence that war crimes were committed, for example the shelling of hospitals and UN food supply lines. The prospect that such a report might be ignored by the Sri Lankan government, and that the international community might fail to meet the gravity of the allegations in a way that does justice to the victims and to international law itself, is deeply worrying. To avoid such travesty, the report’s findings and conclusions must be carried through – from ensuring a response from the Sri Lankan government, to initiating the processes required to bring criminal liability to bear on the exponents...