By Mohamed Harees –

Lukman Harees

A quarter of the way through the twenty-first century, there are no great illusions about the state of world affairs. Presenting his priorities for the United Nations (UN), António Guterres (Citation2024), the UN Secretary General was clear in his assessment: ‘our world is entering an age of chaos. We are seeing the results: a dangerous and unpredictable free-for-all with total impunity’. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (Citation2024) judges it is ‘a moment of historic danger’, in which ‘ominous trends continue to point the world toward global catastrophe’. Emphases and explanations vary, but there can be little doubt that the global ethics is under stress and strain, in a world that is fracturing and breaking apart! Latest breakdown of humanity is the killing spree by Israel, undertaken with the continued support of the US, Germany and many other Western countries, which has been judged by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UN experts (OHCHR) and many scholars as genocidal. Arundhati Roy judges it as ‘the wound through which the whole world, including Israel, bleeds.’

Conflicts are sharpening and legitimacy is failing. The US has effectively rejected the liberal international order it helped to construct and preside over. As the Holocaust scholar Omer Bartov observes: ‘This is a total moral, ethical failure by the very countries that claim to be the main protectors of civil rights, democracy, human rights around the world’. Israel is not only destroying the lives of Palestinians, Lebanese, and Syrians, it is pulling down some of the core tenets of human rights and international law with it. Western states have descended into a form of normalized tribalism. Analysts warned that the judgment of history will be merciless, stronger than any judgment delivered by any international court of law.

In 2003, the US and its allies unleashed a devastating attack on Iraq, sparking a brutal decade-long war on a totally false premise, that claimed countless lives and reshaped the political landscape of the region. UK Parliament and US Congress – mandated to scrutinise government policies – not only failed in their duty but instead amplified the calls for war. The Judiciary was unable to protect the rule of law and prevent the deaths of millions. UN and democratic mandates were disregarded, as governments acted in an authoritarian fashion, in defiance of historic global protests against the war and occupation of Iraq.  In reality, the invasion of Iraq remains an act of aggression that violated international law and destroyed the lives of countless innocent people. Despite overwhelming evidence that exposed the falsity of the war, leaders responsible for this brutal conflict, especially Bush and Blair have yet to be held accountable. A ‘systemic failure’ underlines impunity 22 years after Iraq War.

On Nov. 21, 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants on Israeli PM Netanyahu, and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Israel also faces a genocide case at the ICJ for its war on Gaza. One fundamental ingredient of this catastrophe of the Gaza genocide has been impunity, a persistent impunity that has allowed international crimes to become normalized as state policies. Both Netanyahu and Gallant face the risk of arrest if they travel to any of the 124 countries that are parties to the Rome Statute, which established the court and those states are obliged to enforce the arrest warrants. However shamelessly, these alleged war criminals are receiving red-carpet treatment and institutions of justice are abandoned, as the ‘illusion of moral leadership crumbles—revealing a system built on selective accountability and colonial legacy’. A man wanted for war crimes has thus been travelling freely on official visits in the US and Hungary, a member of the European Union, which announced that it will withdraw from the ICC, effectively making those countries havens for an alleged war criminal. Germany, one of the founding supporters of the ICC, has also stated that they will not arrest Bibi; same Germany that preaches the rule of law and human rights to others, yet conveniently exempts Israel from accountability. It is no longer just hypocrisy, it is complicity. The least the West could do is stop bombarding the rest of the  world with its version of human rights.

It is true that failing to hold Russia accountable for war crimes committed in Ukraine also sets a disastrous precedent for the future of international security, and would create the conditions for more war. Russia’s full-throttle invasion of Ukraine is so shocking because it is such a brazen assault on the post-1945 world order. Yet, the relatively muscular international response to Russia itself exposes Western self-interest and double standards in not enforcing international law in other grave situations. There is a direct line between Western disrespect for international law and Russia’s belief that power trumps law, as well as the view of many non-Western states that they should put immediate self-interest ahead of enforcing the law against violators like Russia. If The West expect Russia and China to be law-abiding, it must also look in the mirror. West’s sermons on human rights violations in China lost its appeal due to its overlooking serious human rights abuses by countries like Israel and India as well as its allies in the ME, and heavily criticizing other nations, thereby the West is prioritizing strategic interests over genuine concerns.

Impunity is the exercise of power without accountability. It takes place when crimes, from minor offenses to serious human rights violations, are not adequately investigated, the perpetrators are not convicted, and the victims do not receive reparations. Impunity not only denies justice to victims but also undermines public trust in state institutions and the rule of law, thus fuelling the repetition of crimes and legal violations. At its worst, it means crimes go unpunished. Impunity permeates the structures of many societies, being a hurdle to the promotion of justice and equality. It feeds inequality, corruption, and crime, impeding social progress and creating an environment of insecurity and injustice. It can lead to abuses of power, widespread corruption, and the denial of basic human rights. Impunity can also perpetuate injustice and inequality, as those in power do not fear repercussions for their actions.

The investigation of impunity holds significant weight in legal and social studies since the absence of sanctions for legal transgressions extends the ramifications beyond the immediate legal system, impacting the broader societal fabric. By failing to deliver punishment, a system fosters an environment where the deterrence of future offenses weakens, which, in turn, can erode public trust in the rule of law and contribute to a climate of fear and uncertainty within the citizenry. Impunity also has a detrimental effect on victim participation, as it allows perpetrators to impose their narrative, undermining the right of victims to be recognised as such and to have their voices heard. This is why strengthening victims and survivors’ ability to fight impunity through both formal and informal transitional justice processes is crucial. While fighting against impunity can feel like an impossible task, the determination of survivors and civil society to make justice work has proven that by uniting forces, the tides can be turned against impunity.

Impunity is prevalent in many countries, affecting all societal levels. Impunity is a global problem. It affects countries around the world, regardless of their level of economic development. It can occur at the individual, institutional, or societal level. In the last decades, significant efforts have been made to confront the rise of impunity in response to human rights, humanitarian law, and international criminal law violations. International and hybrid tribunals, special courts established at the national level, and ordinary national courts have been used to prosecute and punish perpetrators. Despite this progress, many challenges remain. Impunity has been facilitated by the erosion of national and international accountability mechanisms, the targeting or criminalisation of justice actors and human rights defenders as well as weak political will and inadequate laws. Not enough efforts have focused on enabling the meaningful participation of survivors, and in understanding and tackling the root causes of impunity, necessary to challenge the political, social and economic structures that oppress those who are central to making change happen. These challenges have been coupled in recent years by a global context of diminishing civic space for victims and human rights defenders, and the increasing risks they face. The lack of political will has also been exemplified, for instance, by the resistance of major military powers such as China, the US and Russia, to ratify the Rome Statute. Furthermore, the double-standards practised by some western States, as pointed out earlier, are contributory factors too.

Sri Lanka too is facing a crisis of impunity. As per ICJ report, ‘it has become a cliché to speak of a ‘culture of impunity’ but the phrase is entirely apt in describing the situation in Sri Lanka, where impunity has  over the years become institutionalized and systematized: mechanisms to hold state actors to account for their actions have been eroded; checks on the arbitrary use of power have been diluted, if not dissolved; institutions to protect the independence of the judiciary have been eviscerated.’ ‘Impunity remains a central obstacle to the rule of law, reconciliation and Sri Lanka’s sustainable peace and development, and remains the core risk factor for recurrence of further violations’, wrote the UN Commissioner for Human Rights in a 2012 report. A key concern of the report was not only the lack of progress in the most emblematic human rights cases in Sri Lanka over the past decade but the “active reversal in the form of acquittals on appeal and presidential pardon granted to those accused or convicted of grave violations”. The report also noted that “a number of corruption and other related economic crimes cases between 2020 and 2022 were discontinued, following the withdrawal of charges or indictments on various technical grounds”. Successive governments have sought to avoid accountability by appointing one “Commission of Inquiry” after another, ostensibly to investigate, but really to simply stall any concrete action. The human rights advocacy body CPA, also highlights issues such as impunity related to past abuses, increasing militarization, flawed governance, and escalating restrictions on fundamental freedoms.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) was voted to power as the President in Sept 2024, promising a break from the past and create a ‘new political culture’, to respect and uphold human rights, to abolish to reform draconian security laws, to seek accountability and ending the toxic culture of impunity. Yet, six months into the reign, people are yet to see noticeable outcomes regarding investigations into many emblematic human rights violations cases which highlighted the delays and setbacks in attaining justice and accountability through the criminal justice system in Sri Lanka. People are eagerly waiting for an update on the Easter Sunday terror attacks investigations and the political masterminds behind this tragedy. On the contrary, there has been a troubling continuity in abusive state practices under much maligned PTA. Arresting a Muslim youth for posting an anti-Israeli sticker, and a Tamil father for sharing a post of a dead rebel leader on FB, under the PTA and another Sinhala youth dying in Police custody amid torture allegations, were few examples which should cause alarm, to say the least. These happenings under AKD’s watch, raises urgent questions about whether his government is serious about the changes he promised or merely replaying Sri Lanka’s old playbook of impunity and repression.

We see this age of impunity everywhere — in the Middle East, in the heart of Europe, in the Horn of Africa, and in our backyard in Asia. The rising level of impunity in the world is “politically indefensible and morally intolerable”, with more and more countries feel they can trample international law, violate the UN Charter, invade another country, lay waste to whole societies or utterly disregard the welfare of their own people. The only way to guarantee justice is if the international community works hard to end impunity, especially nowadays where international law is not respected and challenged daily.

Locally, under Rajapaksa rule, impunity reached crisis proportions, which AKD promised to put it right. Six months into his term, the gap between rhetoric and reality appears to be widening. Despite a change in leadership and tone, the architecture of repression remains firmly in place. The coming weeks will be critical. Sri Lankan civil society and international partners will be watching closely to see if his government rights these wrongs and proves that its promises of a more just, rights-respecting Sri Lanka were not merely empty words. Else, much talked about ‘genuine break from the past’ will ring sadly hollow, and the rulers once again will jeopardise SL’s global credibility and the trust of its own people.