The UN Human Rights Council Thursday passed a resolution urging Sri Lanka to conduct a credible investigation into alleged war crimes during its battle against Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009. Sri Lanka bristled as its ally India turned its back on Colombo during the council's contested vote on the US-led resolution, while rights groups said the result sent a "strong message for justice."
Tabling the resolution, the United States said Colombo had been given three years to hold its own investigations into allegations of serious violations, but "given the lack of action... it is appropriate" that the 47-member-state council pushed it to do so.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the council's action, saying it "encourages the government of Sri Lanka to continue on the path toward reconciliation following 27 years of civil war." "The United States, together with the international community, sent a strong signal that Sri Lanka will only achieve lasting peace through real reconciliation and accountability, and the international community stands ready to help," she said.
Rights groups say up to 40,000 civilians died in the final months of Colombo's military campaign to crush the Tamil Tigers, who waged a bloody decades-long campaign for a separate homeland for minority Tamils. The government has denied its troops were responsible for any non-combatant deaths, but UN mandated experts have accused the Sri Lankan army of killing most of the civilian victims in their final offensive against the separatists in 2009. The United Nations estimates some 100,000 people died during Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict between 1972 and 2009.