UN raps Sri Lanka’s slow progress on tackling war crimes
COLOMBO: The United Nations criticised Sri Lanka on Friday for slow progress in addressing war crimes and past human rights abuses and said the international community was running out of patience.
The UN and rights activists have accused the Sri Lankan military of killing thousands of civilians, mostly Tamils, in the last weeks of the civil war with Tamil separatists that ended in 2009 and have demanded reforms and redress.
“There is little evidence that perpetrators of war crimes committed by members of the Sri Lankan armed forces are being brought to justice,” Ben Emmerson, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, told reporters after concluding a four-day visit to Sri Lanka.
With progress having ground “to a virtual halt”, Emmerson said Sri Lanka could face a range of measures, including a referral to the UN Security Council, if it fails to meet commitments it made under a 2015 UN resolution.
The United Nations gave Colombo a two-year extension in March to meet the commitments, which include establishing a judicial process involving foreign judges and prosecutors to investigate the alleged war crimes.
Colombo has previously promised an impartial investigation into human rights violations but President Maithripala Sirisena has since said he would not allow foreign judges take part in the investigation.
While Emmerson was in Sri Lanka, police arrested a top naval officer on suspicion of being involved in the abduction of 11 youths, mostly Tamils, in 2008/2009 who have never been found.
Emmerson also said he had come across prisoners who had been detained without trial for more than 12-years. — Reuters