Lankan Reefcomber, confronting a TPS Item from the International Crisis Group: https://thuppahis.com/2026/04/21/sri-lankas-political-situation-today/#more-98556
Michael, re the ICG article you posted…. It is questionable why the International Crisis Group (ICG) prioritises war crimes within the narrow context of Sri Lanka while remaining silent on the unprecedented war crimes and genocide currently taking place in West Asia, which are broadcast live around the clock. This discrepancy reveals a double standard: the ICG focuses heavily on non-Western nations like Sri Lanka, but remains conspicuously less critical of Western military actions or those of their close allies. Viewing the world through a liberal-Western lens, the ICG frequently neglects the geopolitical realities and sovereignty of non-Western states.
This bias is compounded by the fact that Western powers rarely hold their own forces accountable. History shows it is nearly impossible for a country to successfully prosecute war crimes committed by its own military. One only has to look at the immense difficulty Australia and the UK have faced in prosecuting alleged SAS war crimes in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016. In the high-profile case of BRS, the ICG’s silence is telling; while the International Crisis Group are quick to issue detailed reports on the domestic judicial failings of non-Western states like Sri Lanka, they offer no commentary on the accountability of Western special forces. Despite credible evidence, the legal and political hurdles to achieving justice in these “stable” Western democracies remain nearly insurmountable.
The United States takes this defiance a step further by asserting total immunity from international oversight. Through the American Service-Members’ Protection Act—aptly dubbed the “Hague Invasion Act”—the U.S. authorises military force to liberate any personnel detained by the International Criminal Court (ICC). By sanctioning judges and freezing the assets of prosecutors who open investigations, the U.S. government treats the application of international law not as justice, but as a hostile act of aggression. The ICG is probably scared to tackle US war crimes as they would probably be punished and sanctioned.
So why do the ICG expect Sri Lanka to act differently from their Western counterparts?
PS: Does the ICG want Sri Lanka to be the gold standard on prosecuting war crimes?
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