Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is a diamond-shaped island off the southern tip of India with a population of about 20 million. Writer Sir Arthur C Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, resided there from the late’ ‘50s, and claimed it was the best place in the world from which to view the universe.

His observation might have been more insightful than he intended, for, like so many other places around Planet Earth, the potentially-idyllic country’s peace and stability have been blighted by civil war. In a series of rebellions against their government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also referred to as the Tamil Tigers), who are struggling to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the island, fighting has ravaged the country on and off for over six decades, resulting in widespread death and destruction. Then, in May last year, after a bloody campaign the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers, and a peace of sorts broke out.
Jude Lal Fernando is a Sri Lankan who came to Ireland about five years ago as a student. He has been a major driving force in the launch of the Irish Forum for Peace in Sri Lanka (IFPSL), a non-Governmental organisation set up in 2007. Now, thanks to the international efforts of that organisation, this week sees the sitting in Ireland of the Permanent People’s tribunal investigating alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan government during the civil war.
According to Fernando, Ireland is an appropriate setting for such a tribunal, not least on account of the parallels with the Northern Ireland conflict and its comparatively peaceful outcome.
“Like Sri Lanka, Ireland is a post-colonial country. There are also clear similarities between the situation in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland in relation to the part religion has played in both conflicts. The peace process and its traditional policy of neutrality also make Ireland a suitable location for this tribunal.”
The IFPSL is committed to promoting human rights and lobbying for a negotiated settlement in Sri Lanka, and it has collaborated with other like-minded European groups in its efforts to heighten awareness of the effects of bloody conflict and the behaviour of the authorities.
The organisation claims that the Sri Lankan government committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, illegal detentions, disappearances, abductions and other blatant breaches of basic human rights, not least during the end phase of the conflict with the Tamil Tigers last year. They also claim that the government engaged militia groups to carry out criminal acts on its behalf and continued to perpetrate those crimes after the conflict had ended.
As Fernando outlined to Hot Press, the Sri Lankan government failed to investigate these allegations to the satisfaction of the United Nations, which asked that the Sri Lankan Government allow independent investigators access to the areas allegedly affected. This request was turned down. Subsequently, activists in Ireland decided to set up their own investigation. As a result of their efforts, hearings are being held in Dublin this week, organised by the IFPSL under the auspices of the Permanent People’s tribunal, a body of international opinion independent of State authorities. For over three decades, it has reported on some of the most serious abuses of human rights that the United Nations was unable to investigate.
The IFPSL man explained to Hot Press that “the tribunal has a long history of carrying out independent investigations of human rights abuses ranging from Vietnam to Guatemala, Tibet, Eritrea, Argentina, Nicaragua and Afghanistan. Although it has no powers to implement its findings, people taking action against the Sri Lankan authorities can use its findings to support their case”.
The tribunal panel consists of eleven prominent individuals with long experience in matters of human rights and justice, including Rajinder Sachar, former Judge of the Indian High Court, Denis Halliday, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations and Mary Lawlor, founder of Front Line.
It will also be fascinating to see what effect, if any, the Dublin tribunal has on this year’s Presidential elections in Sri Lanka between defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, and General Sarath Fonseka who led the crushing of the rebels. The latter is on record as claiming that his opponent ordered the killing of Tamil Tiger rebel leaders who were attempting to surrender.
Tellingly, the Sri Lankan Government has refused to send a representative, but the tribunal has been warmly welcomed by Nobel Peace Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel, the outgoing President of the UN General Assembly Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, among other respected international names who have agreed to publicise and interpret the findings of the Dublin tribunal.

Arundhati Roy is one of many high-profile individuals who have agreed to publicise and interpret the finding of the tribunal. The Permanent People’s tribunal will take place on January 14/15 at Dublin’s Trinity College. For further details see www.ifpsl.org.