Families of the disappeared in Mullaitivu have launched a petition campaign on Saturday, calling for an international accountability mechanism to ensure justice for their loved ones.
The petition, launched ahead of the UN Human Rights Council session later this month, calls for an international mechanism which Sri Lankan leaders have repeatedly rejected despite co-sponsoring a resolution that mandates foreign judges participating in a accountability mechanism in 2015.
Recent months has seen protests across the North-East and around the world call for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said in a statement to the UN Human Rights Council last week that the Sri Lankan government’s failure to establish an accountability mechanism for violations of international law means that referral to the International Criminal Court or the creation of another international mechanism “would be fully warranted”.