U.N. calls for special court to prosecute Sri Lanka war crimes

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Earlier today, the UN stated in their much anticipated report that Sri Lankan government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels “most likely” committed war crimes including mass killings of civilians during their long conflict which should be prosecuted by a special court with international judges.

The UN report also held that Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system was not up to the huge task of providing accountability domestically despite the pledges made by the new government of President Sirisena, which had been recently backed by US.

The report called on Colombo to remove from office military and security force personnel and any other officials “where there are reasonable grounds to believe that they were involved in human rights violations” in the 26-year war that ended in 2009.

The report did not name any suspects, saying that it was a “human rights investigation, not a criminal investigation”.

Sri Lanka’s response to the report is due to be provided within the next few days.

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