Comprehensive Legal rebuttal to Genocide and War Crimes allegations against Sri Lanka

 

Lack of Credible Evidence Supporting Genocide Allegations. The 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Allegations against Sri Lanka often cite high civilian casualties during the final stages of the civil war. However, these figures, such as the oft-quoted 40,000 deaths, are based on estimates without substantiated evidence. The UN Panel of Experts’ report itself acknowledges that these numbers are not verified and are derived from extrapolations and unverified sources. Without concrete evidence of intent to destroy a particular group, the criteria for genocide are not met.

 

Questionable Credibility of UN and OHCHR Reports

 

The reports produced by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) regarding Sri Lanka’s armed conflict are fundamentally flawed in methodology and violate basic evidentiary standards under international law. These documents heavily rely on anonymous testimonies, hearsay, and overseas secondary sources, many of which are linked to LTTE-affiliated individuals or interest groups. The refusal to disclose raw data and reliance on unverified allegations render these reports inadmissible in any fair judicial forum.

 

The 2015 OISL report (paragraphs 1100–1102) admits it faced “serious constraints,“ could not conduct investigations in Sri Lanka, and depended on confidential sources it could not verify. Even worse, the OHCHR sealed these “witness statements” for 10 to 30 years, effectively denying the accused—especially military officers—the right to cross-examination, timely rebuttal, or due process. This amounts to an unprecedented breach of natural justice.

 

The danger of such political manipulation of international justice is evident from the case of Slobodan Milošević, who was imprisoned for years before dying in custody, only to be posthumously exonerated. This should serve as a global warning. Sri Lanka’s war veterans must not be subjected to trial by media or political vendetta, based on secretive, flawed, and unverifiable accusations.

 

Undermining of Domestic Reconciliation by International Overreach

 

In May 2010, Sri Lanka appointed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to investigate the war, assess reconciliation needs, and recommend reforms. The LLRC conducted public hearings and produced a comprehensive report.

 

Yet in June 2010, then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon unilaterally appointed a “Panel of Experts” (PoE) on accountability in Sri Lanka. This panel had no mandate from the Security Council or General Assembly. According to the UN’s own Office of Legal Affairs, Ban did not have the legal authority to initiate such an inquiry without proper authorization, making the panel’s legitimacy highly questionable. (Source: Internal UN memo reported by Inner City Press and referenced by Sir Desmond de Silva QC).

 

Despite being legally informal and advisory, the PoE’s report was later weaponized in UNHRC resolutions and diplomatic pressure campaigns. This sequence of events illustrates how Sri Lanka’s sovereign reconciliation mechanisms were deliberately overridden by an externally driven agenda.

 

Double Standards in Global Counterterrorism and Foreign Political Hypocrisy

 

Sri Lanka is being selectively targeted for defeating the LTTE, one of the world’s deadliest terrorist organizations. While Sri Lanka is condemned for ending the war, Western countries allow open glorification of the LTTE on their own soil, including:

• Members of Parliament and Mayors laying wreaths for LTTE terrorists
• LTTE “martyr day” events held in public venues
• Diaspora propaganda being used as “evidence” by foreign politicians

 

Would any Western democracy tolerate wreaths being laid for Al-Qaeda or ISIS fighters? Why is such behavior normalized when the LTTE is involved—a group that recruited children, used human shields, killed civilians, and assassinated world leaders?

 

This blatant double standard undermines global norms on counterterrorism. It also signals that some terrorist groups can be “rehabilitated” through political lobbying—a dangerous precedent.

 

Civilian Casualties: The LTTE’s Responsibility

 

The Sri Lankan military is accused of killing civilians, yet credible international statements from 2009 place the blame clearly on the LTTE:

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (13 May 2009):

“The LTTE is using civilians as human shields and not allowing them to leave.”

 

UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay (18 March 2009):

“The LTTE must stop recruiting civilians, especially children, and allow them to leave.”

 

UNICEF, ICRC, and the EU all condemned the LTTE’s use of civilians as hostages and their obstruction of evacuations.

 

The Sri Lankan Armed Forces:

• Created No Fire Zones
• Facilitated humanitarian corridors
• Lost 6,621 soldiersto avoid civilian casualties
• Repeatedly offered the LTTE chances tosurrender, which were refused

 

The LTTE used civilians as human shields, shot at those fleeing, and prolonged the war. Reports that fail to differentiate between armed civilian combatants and genuine non-combatants result in distorted casualty figures. The LTTE’s own armed civilian militia blurred the line between civilians and combatants.

 

The Danger of Diaspora-Driven Propaganda

 

Many third-party organizations and UN reports rely heavily on diaspora testimonies, especially from LTTE-sympathetic networks. These groups not only influenced UN narratives but also funded international advocacy campaigns to pressure diplomatic institutions. The fact that such actors are allowed to shape UN processes raises serious questions about the independence of international justice mechanisms.

 

The campaign against Sri Lanka is not grounded in objective fact or law. It is based on politically driven reports, double standards, and questionable evidence. The same UN that failed to act during the LTTE’s 30-year reign of terror is now condemning the very forces that ended it.

 

If international justice is to retain credibility, it must apply the same standards to all. Sri Lanka’s soldiers should not be vilified for achieving what much of the world could not: the defeat of terrorism without foreign boots on the ground.

 

This rebuttal is not a denial of wartime suffering. It is a demand for legal clarity, evidentiary integrity, and international fairness.

 

To accuse a nation & its National Army of genocide based on secret statements and politically manipulated data is not justice—it is a betrayal of justice itself.

 

 

Shenali Waduge