ACF Renews Demand for International Inquiry into Muttur Massacre

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA—The global humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger | ACF International reiterates its call for an independent, international inquiry into the executions of its 17 employees in Muttur, Sri Lanka nearly three years ago. The humanitarian organization urges the European Union to set up an international investigation in the wake of a national-level commission’s failure to identify those responsible for the assassinations of August 4, 2006. Since the Presidential Commission of Inquiry’s highly politicized and secretive proceedings—the last of three judicial procedures—failed to reveal the perpetrators of these crimes, a full investigation by an international body is necessary to bring the guilty parties to justice.

Presidential Commission’s Unpublished Findings

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry has refused to publicly release its formal report after officially committing to do so and despite promises by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. ACF, which is unable to obtain a copy of the Commission’s findings, demands that they immediately be made public.

ACF can only assume that the information disseminated by the Sri Lankan press—that the Commission did not charge anyone in the brutal murders of the aid workers—is reliable since the organization cannot independently verify the contents of the Commission’s report.

Proceedings Conclude: Two Years of Obstruction & Secrecy

Following the Muttur massacre, ACF closely followed three national-level judicial proceedings. These highly politicized proceedings spanned two years of investigations, were subject to continuous delays, and have been riddled with errors. After the departure of international observers, ACF withdrew from the proceedings and left the country in March, 2008.

The Muttur Massacre

On August 4, 2006, 17 ACF aid workers were lined up and shot one-by-one in the town of Muttur, northeastern Sri Lanka. The brutal assassination methods indicate that the killings were intentional acts of violence. The massacre, the largest ever of humanitarian workers, can be considered a war crime under international law.