The report, released at the Geneva Press Club on Wednesday, stated “that Sri Lanka is not a safe place for witnesses or victims seeking justice”.
“If prosecutions are conducted in Sri Lanka, the vast majority of witnesses who contributed to the OISL will not be able to provide evidence,” it added. “The victims who participated in the OISL process will be dis-enfranchised; and any further ‘consultation process’ that requires Tamil victims to come forward and self-identify themselves to GoSL as seeking justice will place those victims at further risk of persecution.”
The OISL report, which detailed the crimes committed during the final stages of the armed conflict, had also said there was an “absence of any reliable system for victim and witness protection, particularly in a context where the threat of reprisals is very high”.
“A consultation process that requires Tamil victims to come forward and self-identify themselves to the Sri Lankan government as seeking an international mechanisms for justice will place those victims at further risk of persecution,” said TAG.
The event in Geneva, also marked the release of a short film entitled “Sri Lanka's Silenced Witnesses”, which included interviews with witnesses of international humanitarian law violations.
“The moment we will give testimony, they won’t let us go,” said one witness. “They will certainly kill us in one way or another. They won’t let us stay alive.”
Another stated that “if I spoke [to a Sri Lankan government investigation] my life would be in danger. … I can’t speak in Sri Lanka as there would not be safety for me.”
See a trailer for the film below.
