Sri Lankan Court Hands Down Death Sentence to Soldier Convicted of War Crime

A Sri Lankan High Court in Colombo has convicted and sentenced Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake to death for the murder of eight civilians, including four children, in 2000 during the country's civil war. The court heard that Ratnayake slit the throats of the civilians and buried them in a mass grave in the Jaffna peninsula. This rare case marks a significant development in holding the Sri Lankan military accountable for its actions during the war. Four others who were allegedly involved with Ratnayake at the time of the crime were acquitted due to a lack of direct evidence against them.

Key Takeaways:

• Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of eight civilians, including four children, in 2000 during the Sri Lankan civil war.
• The court found that Ratnayake slit the throats of the civilians and buried them in a mass grave in the Jaffna peninsula.
• Four others who were allegedly involved with Ratnayake at the time of the crime were acquitted due to a lack of direct evidence against them.
• The sentencing marks a rare case of the Sri Lankan military being held accountable for its actions during the war.
• The government has promised to investigate any allegations of war crimes, despite past denials of such allegations.
• Sri Lankan courts have passed death penalty in serious crimes such as murder, rape, and drug trafficking, but no execution has been carried out since 1976.
• There are at least 500 death-row convicts in prisons in Sri Lanka.

Statistics:

• 8 civilians, including 4 children, were murdered by Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake in 2000.
• 500 death-row convicts are currently imprisoned in Sri Lanka.
• The Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers were defeated in May 2009.
• At least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed by the army in the final weeks of the war, according to a UN report.

Sources:

• Aotoday
• 2015 Legal Monitor Worldwide
• Syndigate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info)