COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) – Hundreds of ethnic Tamils launched a four-day protest march from east to north Sri Lanka on Wednesday to demand justice for civilians killed and forcibly disappeared during the country’s civil war, allegedly in the hands of government military.
Politicians, civil and religious leaders on foot and by car joined the march, which is also protesting the government’s alleged plans to change the demographics of the traditional Tamil center, establishing the Sri Lankan majority there and taking over private land.
Sri Lanka celebrates its 73rd anniversary of independence from British colonial rule on Thursday. The march of approximately 500 kilometers (300 miles) from east to north, which the Tamils consider their homeland, is due to end on Saturday.
Relatives of missing persons have also started a fast to mark Independence Day.
The protests came after Sri Lanka rejected a report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who called for “international action to ensure justice for international crimes” allegedly committed during the 26-year civil war.
She said in last week’s report that Sri Lanka “has practically closed the possibility of genuine progress being made to end impunity through a transitional domestic justice process.” She said that member countries now have the option of referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court and investigating and pursuing violations of international law under “accepted principles of extraterritorial or universal jurisdiction”.
In a 2015 resolution, the Sri Lankan government at the time pledged to investigate alleged war abuses through local courts and provide redress. However, current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa withdrew from the resolution.
Rajapaksa played a key role as a senior defense official in the government led by his brother, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who defeated ethnic Tamil rebels who struggled to create an independent state.
Both the government and the Tamil Tiger rebel group have been accused of serious human rights violations.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the government rejected the report.
“We are planning our strategy (to respond) and we are going to make our position clear,” he said.
Initial conservative UN estimates indicate that about 100,000 people were killed in the civil war. A later report by UN experts said that some 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in just the last few months of combat.