UN war crimes report on Sri Lanka leaked

UN war crimes report on Sri Lanka leaked

2011-04-16 23:46:09 GMT+7 (ICT)

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (BNO NEWS) -- A United Nations report on war crimes reportedly committed during the later stages of Sri Lanka's war against Tamil Tiger rebels has been leaked before its official release next week.

Sri Lankan daily, The Island, published on Friday a portion of the report handed over to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on April 12. The UN regretted that "parts of the report found its way prematurely to a Sri Lankan newspaper."

According to the UN spokesman's office, the Sri Lankan government was given a copy of the report so that it can respond to it. The UN hopes the government's response can be released with the full report next week.

Sri Lanka has already said that the UN report is fundamentally flawed and patently biased presented without any verification.

The three-member panel was appointed by the UN chief last May to investigate allegations of violating humanitarian law by the government security forces and the rebels. Excerpts from the report published in The Island say that the panel found credible allegations that Sri Lankan soldiers and Tamil Tiger rebels committed serious violations, "some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The report also severely criticizes the Sri Lankan government-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to probe the events during the last seven years of war.

"The LLRC is deeply flawed, does not meet International standards for an effective accountability mechanism and, therefore, does not and cannot satisfy the joint commitment of the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General to an accountability process," the panel concluded.

The panel recommended the Secretary-General to establish an independent international mechanism to investigate the allegations. It also called for the Human Rights Council to reconsider its May 2009 Special Session Resolution regarding Sri Lanka, where a resolution submitted by Germany demanding a probe into alleged war crimes was defeated.

The UN said tens of thousands lost their lives from January to May 2009 during the final phase of the military operations in the northern part of the country. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was militarily wiped out in May 2009, ending the 26-year- old conflict.

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