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After more than two decades of war, in late 2001 the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam declared a cease-fire. The fragile and interrupted peace process has opened up possibilities for addressing legacies of human rights violations. The Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a coalition of NGOs of which the ICTJ is a founding member, has begun an extensive consultation process on transitional justice strategies across Sri Lanka.
Forging links across divided groups, the TJWG has worked with parents of the disappeared and other groups to identify shared agendas for truth-seeking, accountability, reparations, reform, and other initiatives. Vasuki Nesiah has collaborated with a number of local partners on a policy document exploring the potential of transitional justice mechanisms in Sri Lanka. The Center will use this document in focus group consultations across the country to help develop a more informed strategy.
The ICTJ has identified institutions that will play a key role in implementing transitional justice strategies. One area of continued focus is building the capacity of the National Human Rights Commission (HRC) through training programs for its staff. The Center, as part of the TJWG, is helping the HRC map past transitional justice initiatives, identify gaps, and develop policy proposals to address those gaps. The ICTJ has also helped conduct and participated in workshops for prosecutors on the development of strategies for large-scale human rights abuse. Ongoing train-the-trainer workshops have been initiated for groups providing human rights training for the armed forces, as well as for civil society actors who could play key roles in future transitional justice institutions.
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