(September 22, 2012) Hundreds of Sri Lankans led by Buddhist monks protested on
Thursday against a visit by United Nations officials to discuss human rights issues
during the country's civil war. Monks led about 300 protesters from the Buddhist
nationalist National Heritage Party during the demonstration opposite a local U.N.
office. They complained Sri Lanka is being unfairly criticized for alleged abuses
as the war was ending in 2009. They alleged the visit was a step toward subjecting
Sri Lanka to an international war crimes investigation. Three representatives from
the U.N. human rights commission have met Sri Lankan government officials and ethnic
Tamil politicians and seen areas ravaged by war on their visit. A U.N. report found
evidence the government and Tamil Tiger rebels committed rights violations during
the war. A U.N. document said earlier at least 7,000 people were killed in the last
five months of the fighting alone. The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution
earlier this year urging Sri Lanka to investigate alleged war crimes committed by
both sides. The visits are seen as a follow-up to the resolution, which also asked
Sri Lanka to accept expertise from the office of U.N. human rights commissioner.