Full Transparency and Unselective Accountability are Vital for a Genuine Political Culture
The NPP Government must immediately release the final reports of all Commissions of Inquiry (CoI) – regardless of any weaknesses in their mandates—whose findings remain inaccessible to the public. There can be no credible claim of establishing a new political culture, good governance, or accountability while official reports investigating serious human rights allegations remain hidden, delayed, or selectively acted upon.
The public has an absolute right to know what these commissions are uncovered. Victims have a right to truth and resolution. Where evidence establishes criminal responsibility, perpetrators – regardless of political affiliation, position, or historical standing – must face impartial justice.
Caution and Selective Accountability
The NPP Government is currently regarded more favorably than its predecessors by sections of the international community and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Yet, on the critical question of accountability, the JVP led administration appears to be proceeding with excessive caution, constrained by political pressure from Sinhala nationalist forces and its own cadres and comrades.
This creates a growing perception that the NPP Government’s strategy is to handle justice and accountability only gradually, selectively, and when politically convenient. Accountability cannot be deployed as a selective political weapon against opponents while shielding those within one’s own political tradition from scrutiny.
Examining Historical Records & The Conflict of Interest
The NPP’s principal constituent, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), possesses a substantial historical record that must be open to examination:
- Political Obstruction & War Mobilisation: The JVP played a significant role in opposing the 2002 Norwegian-led international peace process, campaigning to dismantle the P-TOMS agreement to address humanitarian issues of the Tsunami victims, opposing the demerger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces, and exerting political pressure to resume the war.
- Infiltration of Security Forces: Former JVP cadres subsequently entered the security forces at various ranks through state recruitment drives. Credible allegations regarding the involvement of JVP cadres in grave human rights violations and atrocity crimes must be thoroughly investigated.
- Unanswered Questions of 1987–1989: The Marxist JVP’s second insurrection was marked by widespread killings, disappearances, abductions, and torture. Numerous credible allegations point to the JVP committing serious crimes against its political opponents. Yet, the JVP led NPP government has taken no meaningful action to investigate or prosecute those responsible for heinous crimes during this period—including the disappearances of their own comrades. Is the JVP simply afraid of exposing its own past crimes?
Accused of past abuses itself, the NPP/JVP faces a clear conflict of interest that tempts it to avoid a deep commitment to a genuine, international process of accountability and justice. Being a victim of state violence does not erase the crimes committed by JVP members, especially as they now hold state power.
The Test of a New Political Culture
The administration cannot claim to establish a new political culture while reproducing its predecessors’ practices of withholding, delaying, and selectively acting upon inherited investigations. The true test of a new political culture is not whether a government exposes the crimes of its political opponents, but whether it is prepared to confront uncomfortable truths about itself.
If there is nothing to hide, and if no crimes were committed by the state and its paramilitary forces, what is holding the Sri Lankan state back from permitting an international criminal justice mechanism?
Immediate Demands
The NPP Government must immediately:
- Release the final reports of all Commissions of Inquiry that remain unpublished or inaccessible.
- Make all relevant records available to the public.
- Apply identical standards of accountability to all perpetrators—in particular, the state and its death squads—across all historical periods, regardless of political affiliation.
- Fully cooperate with international accountability mechanisms, such as OSLAP, the UNHRC, and international criminal justice mechanisms.
| Confront history. Release the reports. Open the record. Allow justice to follow – without fear, favor, or political exception. |
NPP GOVERNMENT MUST RELEASE ALL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY REPORTS WITHOUT DELAY
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