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UN report on Sri Lankan war crimes calls for an international level court

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 13 February 2017, 4:36 IST

The 220-page UN report on Sri Lanka's war crimes called for a 'hybrid' court comprising international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators as an essential step for justice.

Released by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the 30th session of the UNHRC, the report found that both, the Lankan armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), committed serious violations during the decades long civil war in the island nation.

"A purely domestic court procedure will have no chance of overcoming widespread and justifiable suspicions fuelled by decades of violations, malpractice and broken promises," the report said.

It described 'horrific crimes' including torture, recruitment of child soldiers, forced disappearances, and sexual abuse by security forces. High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said that the report was not "earth-shattering in terms of revelations" but provides "focus and clarity" along with a "good foundation for criminal investigations to proceed".

John Fischer, advocacy director at the Human Rights Watch called the recommendation "a tremendous victory for victims on all sides of Sri Lanka's civil war". "Finally, six years after the end of a three-decade long war, the international community stepped into the space vacated by the Sri Lankan government and did what the government has thus far failed to do: listen to the pain, deliver answers," he added.

First published: 16 September 2015, 7:00 IST