Link to article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56156233
The UN is enacting a new resolution to hold Sri Lankan human rights abusers to account for and deliver justice to victims of its 26-year civil war. Sri Lankan forces and Tamil rebels have been accused of acts of malfeasance during the war, and communities await justice for loved ones murdered or missing, having to deal with the repercussions of violence and conflict. Thousands went missing as well.
The Britain-led resolution is an essential step towards peaceful relations among the diverse communities and faith groups of Sri Lanka. More than 40,000 people, mostly from the minority Tamil group, were killed in Sri Lanka’s civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels. The UN has accused both sides of atrocities during the conflict; however, the Sri Lankan government has consistently denied all allegations of war crimes.
Under the current government, activists and those seeking justice for abuses face threats and intimidation. Thousands of Tamils and members of the Muslim and Christian communities held a large march earlier this month, and they say that accountability is being systematically undermined by the government.
Sri Lankan citizens state that the UN should not give any more time to the Sri Lankan government and a body set up by international representatives must investigate and address their plight.
This article is important because it demonstrates internal corruption and the need for external actors to become involved. The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights states about the Sri Lankan government, “Nearly 12 years on from the end of the war, domestic initiatives for accountability and reconciliation have repeatedly failed to produce results, more deeply entrenching impunity, and exacerbating victims’ distrust in the system.”
This article relates to what we’ve been learning in class because Sri Lanka’s situation could be defined as a shatterbelt area. A shatterbelt is a strategically-oriented region that is both deeply divided internally and caught up in the competition between global powers of geostrategic realms. Shatterbelts form due to the existence of failed states: states with unstable, corrupt, dictatorial regimes that magnify poverty, disease, and famines. In my opinion, Sri Lanka fits these criteria, although I’m not sure if the country is officially defined as a shatterbelt. Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war proves this. Beginning in 1983, there was an insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Now, in 2021, the corruption has grown so intense that the UN must call out the country using a resolution to hold human rights abusers to account and finally deliver justice to victims.