Executive Summary
Enforced disappearances and unlawful killings shock the conscience of the community and demand a public accounting by the state to its citizens and to victims (meaning, all those harmed by the violation). As with all human rights violations, victims have a right to an independent inquiry and an appropriate remedy. This report addresses the systematic absence of an adequate remedy in Sri Lanka - notwithstanding the establishment of a long line of commissions of inquiry between 1977 and 2001 - a period of widespread disappearances and unlawful killings during waves of violent political unrest and internal armed conflict.
As stated in the title of the report, the focus is on gross violations of non-derogable rights that amount to serious breaches of peremptory (jus cogens) international norms, whether the State acted directly or sanctioned these crimes indirectly. Non-state and individual private actors can similarly find themselves subject to prosecution for gross violations such as genocide and killings that amount to serious crimes under international law due to their shocking or systematic nature, whether during or outside of armed conflict. State responsibility for guaranteeing a remedy for such crimes transcends domestic jurisdictions as an obligation of all states (erga omnes).