It is increasingly apparent that hostilities continue in the aftermath of war and conflict, where presuppositions of peace and safety are rarely reflected on the ground. Governments and their advisors are notoriously quick to forget the lessons of history, but we must also be careful to emphasize that not all lessons work equally well everywhere, and that the wrong lessons can also be taken from the past. It is dangerous to assume that a new conflict is similar to a familiar one, or that the patterns one has seen before will automatically be repeated again but it is just as facile to assume that every case is sui generis.
All of the case studies emphasize that understanding their conflict requires awareness of its particular political context, and time to immerse oneself in that context. To properly understand conflicts – and to properly assess what policies will and will not work – requires both good theories and reliable evidence.
In considering these different conflicts, the chapter attempts to draw out important lessons and insights, and argues a case for some general propositions. This chapter reviews some of the key findings from case studies of ten protracted terrorist/insurgent conflicts including those involving the IRA, ETA, Hezbollah, Hamas, LTTE, PKK, FARC, GAM, and others. While the failure of current negotiations does not rule out the likelihood of a future negotiated settlement, a significant reorientation in the country's political culture and mainstreaming of neglected voices and.
As a result the ceasefire of 2002 at present lies in a shambles. These variables have informed spoiler behavior and foiled attempts at a decisive settlement of the ethnic conflict. These are: first, the competing nationalisms in the state-building project of Sri Lanka second, the political outbidding practiced by the two major Sinhalese parties and third, the authoritarian character of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which thrives on a rationale of war and terror. Although several factors impinge on the outcome of negotiations, from the experience of negotiating peace in Sri Lanka three prominent and recurrent variables come to the fore. The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is a good example of how peace negotiations in civil war situations can be elusive. The domestic judicial mechanism instead of hybrid or international courts, thus promoting and consolidating a viable process of justice, reconciliation, healing and reconstruction in Sri Lanka. In conclusion, the GoSL must, therefore, fulfil its reciprocal duty by revisiting the LLRC and attempting to realize the recommendations provided progressively, and in full, with the view of prosecuting perpetrators through The study submits that the aggrieved parties of the conflict from both camps must utilize and exhaust available domestic judicial and institutional mechanisms in their best interest before provoking the international community and demanding international fora. Further, the study focuses on the evidence available against the allegations made by numerous international organizations which have not been incorrectly disregarded when forming allegations against Sri Lanka. In that, demarcation of the No Fire Zones, allegations made on Shelling of protected objects, targeting civilians and the government efforts to continue humanitarian efforts in the conflict areas were considered. Further, the study referred to the domestic initiatives taken by the Sri Lankan Government (GoSL) with the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in their report. Although, Sri Lanka is neither a state party nor has accepted the court’s jurisdiction. The Rome Statute serves as the most comprehensive legal authority to date on war crimes. Accordingly, this study is committed to analyzing such allegations in the light of the various connotations of the criminal offences defined in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998). The international community brought forth allegations against the Sri Lankan military forces on unlawful killings, deprivation of liberty of civilians, torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment which did not comply with the international humanitarian law principles. Sinhala-Buddhist nationalistic ideologies, political reforms, the Tamil factor in the domestic politics and regional dimensions are the leading contributory factors in the Sri Lankan conflict. The end of the civil war which lasted nearly three decades in Sri Lanka was declared on the 18th of May 2009 defeating the LTTE terrorists.