Menneskeretsgrupper i Sri Lanka kræver en international undersøgelse af drab på op mod 40.000 tamiler under nedkæmpningen af De Tamilske Tigre, men det afviser regeringen. Internationalt pres er vigtigt, siger aktivister.
COLOMBO, 15 April 2014 (IRIN): Human rights activists and academics in Sri Lanka remain divided over how best to proceed in the investigation of alleged war crimes committed during the final days of the country’s decades-long civil war.
“I think right now there is still room for a robust national inquiry that meets international standards,” Jehan Perera, director of the National Peace Council (NPC), a Colombo-based advocacy group, told IRIN.
“Let me make it very clear – domestic incentives for change are close to nothing,” Kumaravadivel Guruparan, a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at Jaffna University, countered, arguing that international pressure had built up precisely because local mechanisms had failed.
On 27 March, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted for a resolution to launch an international inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by both the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the final stages of the 1983-2009 conflict.
Rights groups have said that up to 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians were killed by Sri Lankan forces while defeating the LTTE, a charge Colombo has repeatedly denied.
The US-backed resolution passed with 23 votes for, 12 against and 12 abstaining.
Government rejection
However, Colombo has refused to cooperate or to recognize any investigation launched by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) as recommended by the resolution, making its ability to gather evidence and access witnesses difficult.
Læs hele artiklen her: http://www.irinnews.org/report/99945/unclear-path-for-sri-lankan-war-probe
