Lankan Tamils seek UN action over rights abuse

Colombo, January 16

Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil political parties and civil society groups have urged the UN Human Rights Council to establish an international independent investigatory mechanism with a strict time frame to ensure accountability from the island nation on the alleged human rights abuses during the nearly three-decades long civil war.

In a letter, they called on to establish an evidence gathering mechanism such as the one on Syria with a strict one-year time frame. They urged for a new resolution on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa-headed Sri Lanka’s accountability.

Civil war claimed over 40,000 lives

• UN data suggests over 40,000 civilians were killed during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime that ended the civil war with the LTTE’s defeat in 2009
• Both the government troops as well as the Tamil Tiger rebels are accused of committing war crimes

Sri Lanka faced three consecutive UNHRC resolutions since 2013 which called for an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes committed by both government troops and the LTTE during the final phase of the civil war back in 2009.

The groups say that UNHRC is due to meet next month and in March to evaluate Sri Lanka’s commitments made. — PTI