As Sri Lanka marks five years since horrific Easter bombings, UN calls for justice for victims

As Sri Lanka honoured the 279 victims of its worst-ever assault against civilians five years ago, the UN called on the nation to fix its “accountability deficit” and provide justice.

Marc-Andre Franche, the UN’s top ambassador to the nation, urged a commemoration ceremony in Colombo that a “thorough and transparent investigation” should be conducted to determine who was responsible for the Easter slaughter in 2019.

In the island’s bloodiest suicide assault against civilians, Islamist bombers targeted three churches and three hotels, but mourning relatives claim they are still waiting for justice.

45 foreigners were killed, including tourists who had arrived on the island a decade after the end of a horrific ethnic strife that had claimed over 100,000 lives since 1972.

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“Sri Lanka suffers from a continuing accountability deficit, be it for alleged war crimes, more recent human rights violations, corruption or abuse of power, which must be addressed if the country is to move forward,” Franche said.

He noted that victims were still seeking justice despite the country’s Supreme Court holding former president Maithripala Sirisena and his top officials responsible for failing to prevent the attack.

“Delivering justice for victims of these attacks should be part of addressing the systemic challenge,” Franche said.

He noted that the UN Human Rights office has also demanded that Colombo launch an impartial inquiry and provide the full results of earlier investigations into the Easter Sunday explosions.

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Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has claimed that military intelligence personnel collaborated with the Islamists who carried out the assault, which aided the political ambitions of retired army general Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was running on security. Seven months later, he won the presidency.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the leader of Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church, said that Rajapaksa had consistently safeguarded individuals responsible for the bombings since his win.

Rajapaksa was forced to step down in July 2022 after months of demonstrations over an unprecedented economic crisis that resulted in food, fuel, and medication shortages.

Sri Lanka’s Catholics were scheduled to stage a silent protest later Sunday to demand a swift investigation into the attacks.

Evidence tendered during a civil case brought soon after the attacks showed that Indian intelligence officials warned Colombo of the bombings some 17 days earlier, but the authorities failed to act.

Then-president Sirisena and his officials have been ordered to pay 310 million rupees ($1 million) in compensation to victims and relatives.

But the ruling has yet to be fully implemented as Sirisena has appealed and a fresh hearing is scheduled for July.