Exploring the Violations of International Humanitarian Law in Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict

Sri Lanka’s civil war – which lasted from 1983 to 2009 – was one of South Asia’s most devastating internal conflicts. For over two and a half decades, the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fought a brutal war that left an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people dead, with hundreds of thousands more displaced. What makes this conflict especially significant from a legal standpoint is that both parties – a state and a non-state armed group – systematically violated the core principles of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The civilian population bore the heaviest cost, and the accountability deficit that followed has haunted Sri Lanka’s post-war reconciliation process ever since.

What IHL framework applies to the Sri Lankan conflict 🔗

The Sri Lankan civil war was a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) under IHL. The applicable legal framework includes Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which sets minimum standards for the treatment of persons in the power of a party to such a conflict, and Additional Protocol II of 1977, which elaborates on protections for civilians and combatants in NIACs. Customary IHL, which binds both states and non-state armed groups, also applies – covering rules on the conduct of hostilities, protection of civilians, and prohibitions on certain weapons and tactics.

The OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), mandated by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014, used this combined framework to evaluate the conduct of both the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the LTTE. Its findings, published in 2015, confirmed patterns of grave violations by both sides.

Violations by the Sri Lankan government forces 🔗

The conduct of Sri Lankan security forces – particularly in the final phase of the war in 2008-2009 – generated substantial international scrutiny. The UN Panel of Experts appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon found “credible allegations” of a wide range of IHL violations that, if proven, would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas and hospitals 🔗

One of the most serious and well-documented violations was the indiscriminate use of heavy artillery in densely populated areas. The government had itself declared several No Fire Zones (NFZs) in the Vanni region and directed civilians to gather there – yet the army proceeded to shell these same zones. A UN panel found that “virtually every hospital in the Vanni, whether permanent or makeshift, was hit by artillery” during the final offensive. US satellite imagery confirmed damage to the Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital between January and March 2009. On 8 April 2009, women and children queuing for milk powder at a food distribution point were killed by shelling – a well-documented instance that the UN cited as evidence of deliberate targeting.

Under IHL, hospitals and medical units enjoy special protected status under Article 19 of Geneva Convention IV and Rule 28 of Customary IHL. Attacks on them are prohibited unless – and only under strict conditions – they are used for hostile acts. The pattern of repeated strikes on hospitals and NFZs in the Vanni strongly suggests disproportionate or indiscriminate attacks in violation of these rules.

Denial of humanitarian assistance 🔗

The Sri Lankan government systematically restricted access by humanitarian agencies, the media, and the UN to the conflict zone. It also deliberately understated the number of civilians trapped in the Vanni – reportedly to reduce the quantity of food and medical supplies permitted to enter the area. According to UN reports, the army deliberately attacked civilian food supplies, using starvation as an instrument of war. This directly violates Rule 53 of Customary IHL, which prohibits starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare, and Article 14 of Additional Protocol II.

Enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings 🔗

Both sides committed extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances throughout the conflict. In the Eastern Province alone, approximately 4,500 Tamils were killed or disappeared by security forces in the second half of 1990. The practice of using unmarked white vans to abduct Tamil civilians and suspected LTTE sympathizers was a hallmark of the war years and continued even after the 2002 ceasefire. Survivors who crossed into government-held territory were subjected to opaque military screening, and many were never seen again. Testimony collected by Amnesty International contains specific accounts of enforced disappearances of surrendered combatants by the Sri Lankan army.

Enforced disappearances violate Common Article 3 and constitute a grave breach when committed against persons hors de combat (those outside the fighting, whether wounded, captured, or surrendered).

Internment camps and post-war detention 🔗

After the war ended in May 2009, approximately 300,000 Tamil civilians were displaced and detained in government-run camps officially called “welfare centres.” These were, in reality, closed military-controlled internment camps that denied freedom of movement and basic rights. Conditions were overcrowded, sanitation was inadequate, and detainees had little access to legal recourse. Those suspected of LTTE ties – over 12,000 – were held incommunicado in separate facilities and faced torture and sexual violence. Detaining an entire civilian population en masse, without individual screening and due process, contravenes Article 27 of Geneva Convention IV and the customary IHL prohibition on arbitrary detention.

Violations by the LTTE 🔗

The LTTE was not merely a passive victim of state violence – it was itself responsible for systematic and serious IHL violations. Under customary international law, non-state armed groups exercising effective control over territory are bound by the same fundamental rules that apply to state forces.

Use of civilians as human shields 🔗

As the Sri Lankan Army advanced in the final months of the war, the LTTE forcibly took all civilians under its control with it as it retreated, packing hundreds of thousands of people into an ever-shrinking coastal strip. LTTE forces were deliberately deployed among the civilian population, and when the army shelled LTTE positions, civilians inevitably died. This constitutes human shielding – a war crime under Rule 97 of Customary IHL. The LTTE practice of forcing civilians to retreat with its forces meant LTTE combatants were increasingly deployed near civilians, placing them at grave risk.

Preventing civilian flight and firing on fleeing civilians 🔗

IHL recognises the right of civilians to flee conflict zones under Article 17 of Additional Protocol II and Rule 129 of Customary IHL. The LTTE violated this norm by imposing a strict pass system that prevented civilians from leaving LTTE-controlled areas. In some instances, it used threats and physical force to stop families from fleeing, and even killed civilians attempting to escape its control. A strict pass system was used to hold families hostage – if one member was allowed to leave, others were kept behind as insurance against non-return. These measures transformed civilians into instruments of the LTTE’s military strategy.

Forced recruitment and child soldiers 🔗

The LTTE’s use of child soldiers was one of the most extensively documented violations of the conflict. UNICEF reported that children as young as 14 were being forcibly recruited during the final stages of the war, with the organisation expressing “grave concern” in February 2009. The UN also reported forced recruitment of civilians with no prior military experience, who were pushed to the front lines. Using children under 15 in armed hostilities is a war crime under customary IHL (Rule 136) and violates Article 77(2) of Additional Protocol I, Article 4(3)(c) of Additional Protocol II, and Article 38(3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Attacks on civilian and religious sites 🔗

The LTTE carried out deliberate attacks on civilian targets that had no military value. In 1998, the LTTE attacked Sri Dalada Maligawa – the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, a sacred Buddhist shrine and UNESCO World Heritage Site – killing 17 people. The Colombo Central Bank bombing on 31 January 1996 killed over 90 civilians and injured 1,400 others. A suicide bombing of a Muslim religious procession in southern Sri Lanka in March 2009 killed 14 civilians. Between 1987 and 2009, the LTTE carried out well over 100 suicide attacks on civilian and economic targets, making it one of the most prolific users of this tactic in modern history. Intentional attacks on religious sites and civilian gatherings are prohibited under Rules 7, 10, and 12 of Customary IHL.

Massacres and summary executions 🔗

The LTTE committed several large-scale massacres of civilians across ethnic lines. On 11 June 1990, the LTTE massacred approximately 600 policemen in the Eastern Province who had surrendered on promises of safe conduct – a grave breach of the prohibition on killing combatants who are hors de combat. In the Palliyagodella massacre, 166 Muslim civilians were killed. The LTTE also carried out summary executions, abductions, and targeted assassinations of journalists, politicians, and perceived enemies throughout the conflict. These acts violate Common Article 3‘s fundamental guarantee that persons taking no active part in hostilities shall be treated humanely.

The accountability gap 🔗

Fifteen years after the war’s end, accountability remains elusive. Successive Sri Lankan governments have blocked independent investigations, shielded perpetrators, and promoted military commanders implicated in serious abuses. The LTTE’s leadership was largely killed in the final battle, leaving its cadres unable to face justice. The UN Human Rights Council has extended its evidence-gathering mandate for Sri Lanka’s war crimes to continue building a record for future prosecutions. The 2015 OISL report recommended creation of a hybrid special court – combining Sri Lankan and international judges – but this has not been established. Sri Lanka has also not ratified the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions or the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, limiting avenues for external legal intervention.

What the Sri Lankan conflict illustrates with painful clarity is that IHL violations do not require a declaration of war, formal armies, or formal state recognition of a conflict. Both parties – the state and the non-state armed group – were capable of systematic atrocity, and both were legally bound to prevent it. The gap between the law on paper and conduct on the ground is where civilians pay the highest price.

What do you think? If both parties to a non-international armed conflict systematically violate IHL, and the state blocks independent investigations while the non-state actor’s leadership is eliminated, what realistic mechanisms can the international community deploy to ensure accountability? And does the framing of an armed group as a “terrorist organisation” by multiple states affect its obligations under IHL – or should the two legal classifications remain entirely separate?

References

1. https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165647
2. https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/oisl
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_during_the_final_stages_of_the_Sri_Lankan_Civil_War
4. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/15-years-sri-lankas-conflict-ended-no-justice-war-crimes
5. https://www.ecchr.eu/en/case/sri-lankan-civil-war-government-officials-still-unpunished/
6. https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/06/un-extends-evidence-gathering-mandate-for-sri-lanka-war-crimes
7. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2012/11/sri-lanka-how-un-failed-during-sri-lanka-s-armed-conflict/
8. https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/amnesty/2010/en/72887
9. https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/02/19/war-displaced/sri-lankan-army-and-ltte-abuses-against-civilians-vanni
10. https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/sri-lanka-conflict-vanni
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_Sri_Lanka
12. https://aoav.org.uk/2018/suicide-terrorism-in-the-sri-lankan-civil-war-1983-2009/