UN rights body urges more thorough Sri Lanka probe
March 22, 2013 - For the second time in as many years, the United Nation’s top human
rights body approved a U.S.-backed resolution on Thursday calling on Sri Lanka to
more thoroughly investigate alleged war crimes committed by both sides during the
country's quarter-century civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels. By a 25-13 vote,
the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council urged the South Asian nation ``to initiate
credible and independent actions'' to ensure justice and accountability in the aftermath
of the conflict, which ended in 2009. Those who opposed argues it unduly interfered
in the country's domestic affairs and could hinder its reconciliation process. The
resolution followed a U.N. report alleging the government may be to blame for tens
of thousands of civilian deaths during the military campaign to defeat the rebels.
Like a similar resolution in March 2012, the measure asks Sri Lanka to probe allegations
of summary executions, kidnappings and other abuses, but stops short of calling for
an international investigation. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said following
the vote that the resolution builds on the previous and ``encourages the government
of Sri Lanka to continue on the path toward lasting peace and prosperity following
decades of civil war and instability.'' ``While some important progress has been
made, there is much work still to be done,'' he said in a statement. The Sri Lanka
government has argued that its own investigation should suffice. A Sri Lankan commission
report, released in December 2011, cleared government forces of wrongdoing. Rights
groups and government critics say the regime of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa
has ignored previous calls for accountability _ including last year's resolution _
and has dragged its feet in implementing even the limited recommendations made by
its own war panel. Philippe Dam of Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the U.N.'s
failure to demand an independent, international probe _ after passing a resolution
last year that had virtually no effect - means ``the council has failed victims again
this year.'' (Source: AP)