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Panel of Experts Unveil Credible Reports of War Crimes During Sri Lanka Conflict

The panel of experts set up to advise Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on accountability issues with respect to the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka today unveiled credible allegations of war crimes committed by both the Government and Tamil rebels.

The panel of experts also called for genuine investigations into the allegations.

The decision to release the report, which was submitted to the Secretary-General on 12 April and shared with the Sri Lankan Government, was made as a "matter of transparency and in the broader public interest."- Mr. Ban

Mr. Ban is carefully reviewing the report's conclusions and recommendations, "including its disturbing assessment that a number of allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka are credible, some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The panel found credible allegations that comprise five core categories of potential serious violations committed by the Government in the final stages of the conflict, including killing of civilians through widespread shelling and the denial of humanitarian assistance.

The credible allegations concerning the LTTE comprise six core categories of potential serious violations, including using civilians as a human buffer and killing civilians attempting to flee LTTE control.

The panel's first recommendation is that the Government of Sri Lanka should respond to the serious allegations by initiating an effective accountability process beginning with genuine investigations.

The members of the panel were Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia (chair), Yasmin Sooka of South Africa and Steven Ratner of the United States. They began their work in September 2010.

Source: United Nations