A US-sponsored resolution tabled at the UN Human Rights Council has called for an international probe into Sri Lanka’s alleged rights abuses during the war with Tamil Tiger rebels.
In a draft resolution on Monday, the US endorsed UNHRC chief Navi Pillay’s recommendation for an external probe into the alleged war crimes.
The US, Britain, Montenegro, Macedonia and Mauritius had jointly tabled the draft resolution at the UNHRC session.
The resolution welcomed Ms. Pillay’s “recommendations and conclusions on the need for an independent and credible international investigation in the absence of a credible national process with tangible results”.
The resolution, which is to be voted at the end of this month, will be the third in as many years on Sri Lanka’s accountability and reconciliation with the Tamil minority.
The resolution also recommends the establishment of a truth-seeking mechanism, a national reparations policy, to hold individuals responsible accountable for violations of international human rights law, investigate all attacks against religious minorities, journalists, human rights defenders and civil society.
There was no immediate response from Colombo on the draft resolution.
External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris is to make his submission in Geneva on Wednesday, the government sources said.
