Campaigners urge UN rights council to probe Sri Lanka

�Rights campaigners on Tuesday urged the UN Human Rights Council to order a probe into the final months of Sri Lanka's armed conflict, after a report detailing serious violations was transferred to the council, AFP reported

The report is as follows

On Monday, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon sent a UN report accusing Sri Lankan troops of killing tens of thousands of civilians in its final offensive against Tamil Tiger separatists to the UN's rights body.

Ban had said that he alone cannot order an inquiry into the killings -- which the Sri Lankan government has strongly denied -- but that a forum such as the Human Rights Council could do so.

"When a UN Panel of Experts report concludes up to 40,000 civilians died amid war crimes, the Human Rights Council should feel compelled to act," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

"The council should order a full international investigation -- anything less would be a shameful abdication of responsibility," he said.

Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Director Sam Zarifi also said that it was "time for the Human Rights Council to act on the panel of expert's findings and hold those responsible for massive atrocities in Sri Lanka to account."

"The thousands of victims have waited long enough," he added in a separate statement.

A spokesman for the Human Rights Council told AFP that the report was being circulated among the body's 47 member states, which would then have to decide how to move forward.

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Source: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/latest/10859-campaigners-urge-un-rights-council-to-probe-sri-lanka.html

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