Pillay repeats call for probe

4 March 2010 12:18 pm Views - 22157

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Navi Pillay, today, once again repeated her call for an independent investigation into war crimes allegations in Sri Lanka stating that human rights abuses in the country were damaging prospects of reconciliation after 25 years of the civil war.

“I am convinced that Sri Lanka should undertake a full reckoning of the grave violations committed by all sides during the war, and that the international community can be helpful in this regard,” she said in a speech presenting her annual report at the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva.

Last May, the council held a special session on Sri Lanka just after the end of the war against the LTTE, but the Sri Lankan government deflected criticism by introducing its own resolution praising its defeat of the Tigers, which was then passed, boosting the Colombo stock exchange.