Sri Lanka: UN Report Must be Call to Action on International War Crimes Investigation

“This report has to be an eye-opener, and we urge the UN Human Rights Council in March to pass a strong resolution establishing international investigation” - Amnesty Intl.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, today published her review of the government’s efforts to investigate human rights violations during and after the Sri Lankan armed conflict. © LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images

(NEW YORK Amnesty Intl.) - The international community must act on a robust new UN report calling for an international investigation into alleged human rights violations and war crimes in Sri Lanka, Amnesty International said. 

“It’s utterly shameful that five years after Sri Lanka’s armed conflict ended, the victims and family members have yet to see justice. Navi Pillay’s latest report is another urgent and poignant reminder that an international investigation into alleged human rights violations and war crimes cannot wait,” said Polly Truscott, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia-Pacific Director.

“Sri Lanka has so far done all it can to throw sand in the eyes of the international community and to block attempts to bring genuine accountability for past human rights violations.

“This report has to be an eye-opener, and we urge the UN Human Rights Council in March to pass a strong resolution establishing international investigation.”

“Navi Pillay’s findings echo our own. We are still receiving new eyewitness accounts and other allegations of gruesome violations by both government forces and the Tamil Tigers during the armed conflict.”

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, today published her review of the government’s efforts to investigate human rights violations during and after the Sri Lankan armed conflict, which ended in 2009, concluding that its consistent failure to establish the truth and achieve justice is fundamentally a question of political will.

Pillay also highlighted the overwhelming sense of grief and trauma among victims and survivors that, if left unaddressed, will continue to undermine confidence in the State and reconciliation.

Source: Polly Truscott, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia-Pacific Director

Date: Mon, 24/02/2014