Human Rights Watch slams Sri Lanka report
Avnish Jolly
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/human-rights-watch-slams-sri-lanka-report_100584774.html#.Tu4VmpjrZQQ.email
Sun Dec 18 2011 14:32:00 GMT+0530 (India Standard Time) by IANS
New York, Dec 18 (IANS) A Sri Lankan government report disregards the
“worst abuses” by government forces towards the end of the war that
killed the Tamil Tigers in 2009, Human Rights Watch has said.
The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report also
“rehashes longstanding recommendations and fails to advance
accountability for victims of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict”, it said
Saturday.
The “serious shortcomings” of the 388-page report “highlight the need
for an international investigative mechanism into the conflict as
recommended by the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts in April”.
“While the UN Panel of Experts recommended the establishment of an
independent international mechanism to (probe) alleged violations, the
LLRC report provides no realistic pathway for holding accountable
military and government officials implicated in serious abuses.
“Governments and UN bodies have held back for the past 18 months to
allow the Sri Lankan commission to make progress on accountability,”
said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The commission’s failure to provide a road map for investigating and
prosecuting wartime perpetrators shows the dire need for an
independent, international commission.”