A human rights group has asked the UN not to abandon seeking accountability for alleged abuses in Sri Lanka’s civil war.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement yesterday that Sri Lanka’s recent appointment of a commission apparently to look into the events of the last stages of the country’s quarter-century civil war was only an attempt to deflect international attention.
The New York-based group urged UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon not to abandon his plans to appoint a panel of advisers to examine who might be accountable for alleged human rights abuses committed during the war.
“Secretary-General Ban’s inaction on the experts panel is sending a signal to abusers that loudly announcing toothless commissions can block all efforts for real justice,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“There is growing recognition that the only way to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka is to establish an independent international investigation,” Pearson said.
Human rights groups have accused government forces and the Tamil Tiger rebels of deliberately targeting civilians and hospitals in the final stages of the war last year.
The International Crisis Group said in a report last week it believed at least 30,000 civilians — and possibly as many as 75,000 — remained unaccounted for.
With this, the death toll from Sri Lanka’s long-drawn civil war is thought to be much higher than the official UN estimate of 80,000 to 100,000 deaths.
Human Rights Watch also said last week that it has photographic evidence of alleged war crimes that could help an investigation.
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