(June 18, 2010) The United Nations plans to appoint a panel of experts to look into
human rights issues in Sri Lanka despite opposition from the government, an envoy
said on Thursday. U.N. Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe said
he expects Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to announce the appointment of the panel
early next week. Pascoe who spoke to reporters in Colombo at the end of a two-day
visit to Sri Lanka, declined to comment on the functions of the panel, but the U.N.
has previously said the panel would advise Ban “on the way forward on accountability
issues related to Sri Lanka.” Sri Lanka has faced growing international criticism
for not examining alleged abuses committed during the civil war that ended last year,
in which tens of thousands of combatants and civilians died. The United Nations has
reported that more than 7,000 civilians were killed in the final phase of the war.
Rights groups and some countries have called for war crime investigations in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has rejected calls for an international tribunal. Instead, President Mahinda
Rajapaksa last month appointed a commission to look into the final phase of the conflict.
His government also strongly opposes the formation of the U.N. panel. Rajapaksa in
March called it “totally uncalled for and unwarranted.”