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US War Crimes Report On Sri Lanka
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said that a US State Department report on possible violations of the laws of war in Sri Lanka made public on October 22, 2009 shows the need for an independent international investigation into this matter. The report details that both the government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have violated the laws of war from January through May 2009.
The Office of War Crimes Issues of the State Department prepared the report on possible war crimes committed during the final months of the 26-year-long civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. The war ended in May 2009 with the LTTE's defeat. The report details alleged incidents of LTTE child recruitment, government and LTTE attacks on civilians and civilian objects, government forces and government-supported paramilitaries killing captives or combatants, causing enforced disappearances, and severe shortages of food, medicine, and clean water for civilians trapped in the war zone.
"The US State Department report should dispel any doubts that serious abuses were committed during the conflict's final months," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Given Sri Lanka's complete failure to investigate possible war crimes, the only hope for justice is an independent, international investigation."
