{"id":153314,"date":"2025-11-27T17:19:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T00:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=153314"},"modified":"2025-11-27T17:19:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T00:19:18","slug":"should-claims-for-colonial-reparations-be-recognized-under-international-law-by-i-m-a-ratwatte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/11\/27\/should-claims-for-colonial-reparations-be-recognized-under-international-law-by-i-m-a-ratwatte\/","title":{"rendered":"Should claims for Colonial Reparations be recognized under International Law? by\u00a0I.M.A. Ratwatte"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ratwatte, I.M.A.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

indira.ratwatte@kdu.ac.lk
Lecturer in Law at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and Visiting Lecturer
APIIT Law School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong>
The article examines the social and economic consequences of colonialism and colonial state
policy, underscoring the exploitation and suffering of the colonized under such policies. The
writer specifically refers to India and Sri Lanka and the human and economic costs to the two
countries. The writer emphasizes that these must be acknowledged, apologized and atoned for,
by the former colonial governments. Counter arguments to this are examined, as to why exactly
reparations are owed in the current environment. As justification, the writer seeks guidance
from the examples of two nations \u2013 the Mau Mau and the Herero, who have obtained
reparations as examples of marginal success. Yet, in these small \u2018victories\u2019 too, there is much
to be desired. In conclusion, the writer suggests that the international community should take
note of this very poignant, ignored and pivotal aspect of collective human rights and strongly
recommends that action be taken immediately to provide redress for a most damaging, long-
term phenomenon which is already fading from the consciousness of the colonizers. The writer
proposes that the Right to Reparations be made an integral part of International Law, be made
a Fundamental Human Right recognized by a duly signed International Convention which
should constitute a specialized Tribunal to adjudicate such claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following conclusion is extracted from this excellent article <\/p>\n\n\n\n

……………..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Conclusion<\/strong>
” It is humbly submitted that international law
and jurisprudence is yet to take serious note
of colonial reparations. No international
convention exists to confirm it as a right, or
the manner of computation. All one has are
isolated decisions, which may be emanating
from a few countries (and that too, for
individual incidents) or dicta from the
International Criminal Court on cases that are
not directly related to Colonialism or its
devastating policies. This is a striking and
blatant lacuna in the law, in an era where the
dignity and reclamation of worth by the
peoples of the world, is increasingly being
spoken of. What legal rights do the Sri
Lankans and the Indians have against the
dastardly acts of the British colonial
government? What rights do the indigenous
children of the Americas have against their
colonial oppressors, who sent them to their
deaths to residential schools, built to
\u2018assimilate\u2019 them into western culture and to
stamp out any of their own language, culture
and rich heritage?53 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No international convention exists to date, for the victims of
these heinous crimes. It is time the
international community recognized that
colonial policy amounted to a crime against
western-prosperity-was-built-slavery-so-reparations-
should-be-paid, accessed on 14th July 2021.
53 Ian Austen, \u2018With discovery of Unmarked Graves,
Canada\u2019s Indigenous seek Reckoning\u2019 The New York Times
(June 26th, 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n


humanity;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 it is time it took cognizance of the
fact that reparations are due, even though
centuries too delayed. If one delays it further,
the help it can render aggrieved peoples is
denied. Justice delayed is justice denied,
indeed. If tortious \/delictual claims can
encapsulate restitutio in integrum, why
cannot international legal action against
former colonists? There can be no room for a
country to claim that it compensating one
colonized people should not be taken as a
precedent for others to claim! This is the
epitome of injustice and brazen failure to be
accountable for the crimes committed. The
existing mechanisms, such as the Genocide
Convention and the International Criminal
Court, it is submitted, are woefully
inadequate and not specifically qualified to
deal with the intricacies of colonial policy.
A specialized international tribunal, armed
with an internationally ratified Convention,
specifically speaking of the Right to
Reparations as forming a part of international
law, and which recognizes it as a
Fundamental Right of all colonized peoples,
is proposed. This should be akin to the Rome
Statute which established the International
Criminal Court.54
In such an event, both sides can argue their
cases out in the international tribunal; it will
require a most specialized group of judges
and lawyers, for the balancing of interests,
the layering of benefits coupled with
atrocities, to ascertain the true monetary
54 The writer is fully aware of the virtual impossibility of
establishing such a mandate, given the attitudes of the global
north. One example comes to mind: on the 31st of December
2021, the United Nations adopted a Resolution at the
General Assembly entitled \u2018A global call for concrete action
for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance and the
comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the
Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.\u2019 There were
106 votes in favour, 14 votes against and 44 abstentions. It
is valued to be meted out to countries. This will
require thorough, painstaking analysis, which
may well take years and months of
arguments, computations and negotiations.
Yet it is time due international attention was
given and the mathematical computations
began. Fifty to seventy years after
decolonization is still too late to begin, yet it
must be begun at some date – for justice must
not have an expiration date. After all, we are
(or so it is told by the \u2018liberal west\u2019) on the
cusp of a year of accountability and
penitence; should it not be taken a step
further and be justiciable, for the betterment
of all humanity living in previously colonized
countries?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more<\/p>\n\n\n\n

visit <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.sliit.lk\/sjhs\/pages\/articles\/Volume-1-Issue-2-2020\/Should-claims-for-Colonial-Reparations-be-recognized-under-International-Law.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courtesy: SLIIT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ratwatte, I.M.A. indira.ratwatte@kdu.ac.lkLecturer in Law at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and Visiting Lecturer APIIT Law School AbstractThe article examines the social and economic consequences of colonialism and colonial statepolicy, underscoring the exploitation and suffering of the colonized under such policies. Thewriter specifically refers to India and Sri Lanka and the human and economic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153315,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153314\/revisions\/153315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}