http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA37/012/2011/en/ae2d04b3-d036-4cce-9bd3-0085637cefd4/asa370122011en.html

http://australianetworknews.com/stories/201109/3311543.htm?desktop

Amnesty slams Sri Lanka over ‘flawed’ war probe

Former female Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels walk across the courtyard at a rehabilitation camp in Ratmalana on January 21, 2009. [AFP]

PHOTO

Former female Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels walk across the courtyard at a rehabilitation camp in Ratmalana on January 21, 2009. [AFP]

Last Updated: 9 hours 28 minutes ago

The Sri Lankan Government’s inquiry into its military victory over Tamil rebels was flawed and no substitute for an international war crimes investigation, a leading human rights watchdog says.

Amnesty International has issued a 69-page report slamming the work of the government’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

The report cited eyewitness testimony and information from aid workers suggesting that at least 10,000 civilians were killed in the final military offensive which crushed the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009.

It accused the Sri Lankan army of shelling areas it knew to be densely populated by civilians, and also condemned the rebels for using non-combatants as a human shield.

‘Flawed at every level’

The report titled "When will they get justice?", said the LLRC, set up by the Sri Lankan Government to review the final stages of the offensive, was "flawed at every level: in mandate, composition and practice".

Highlighting the number of ex-government officials on the commission, Amnesty said it had failed to investigate evidence of systematic violations, including illegal killings and enforced disappearances.

"The international community must not be deceived into viewing the LLRC as a credible replacement for an international inquiry — this would allow war crimes and crimes against humanity to go unchallenged," said Amnesty’s Asia-Pacific director, Sam Zarifi.

The defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended nearly four decades of fighting which had claimed up to 100,000 lives.

The Sri Lankan Government maintains that not a single civilian was killed by its security forces.

However, an April report by a panel commissioned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon noted "credible allegations" of war crimes committed by both sides.