A panel of experts appointed by United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the civil war found "credible allegations" which, if proven, indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers.[17][18][19] It also found that as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in the final months of the civil war, a large majority as a result of indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan Army.[20][21] The panel has called on the UNSG to conduct an independent international inquiry into the alleged violations of international law and suspects prosecuted.[22][23][24]
War crimes are prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, of which Sri Lanka is a signatory.[25] In 2002 the International Criminal Court (ICC) was created by the Rome Statute to prosecute individuals for serious crimes, such as war crimes. Sri Lanka is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, so it is only possible for the ICC to investigate and prosecute war crimes in Sri Lanka if the UN Security Council were to refer Sri Lanka to the ICC. Formal Security Council involvement in the case of Sri Lanka, was opposed by the veto members Russia and China, as well as India among other council members.[24] The UN Secretary-General called the Government of Sri Lanka to "respond constructively to the report" and stated that it is important that Sri Lanka set up its own probe for "genuine investigations" into the civil war actions.[24]
The Sri Lankan government has denied that its forces committed any war crimes and has strongly opposed any international investigation. In March 2014 the United Nations Human Rights Council authorised an international investigation into the alleged war crimes.[26][27]
On 21 March 2019 Sri Lanka co-sponsored a resolution made by the UN giving the country a 2-year deadline to establish a judicial mechanism to assess violation of humanitarian international law committed during the civil war.[28]
^International Crimes Evidence Project (ICEP) Sri Lanka, Island of impunity? Investigation into international crimes in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war. (2014) https://piac.asn.au/2014/02/12/island-of-impunity/ p153-175