29 May 2010 02:01 pm
According to a UN statement today a formal announcement on the composition of the panel, which the Sri Lankan government has strongly opposed, will be made once the members have been selected.
“The role of the panel is to advise the Secretary-General based on international standards and experiences on the implementation of the commitments the Government of Sri Lanka made in the area of human rights accountability during the visit of the Secretary-General (to Sri Lanka) a year ago. One of the key points here that was emphasized at the time was the importance of the accountability process to address these allegations of violations of international humanitarian law committed during the final stages of the conflict. And the President of Sri Lanka agreed to take measures to address those grievances,” the UN said.
The UN further noted that the world body and the Secretary-General himself made energetic efforts in the months before the end of the conflict to protect the lives of civilians trapped in the conflict zone and facilitate a speedy and humane end to the conflict in order to save lives.
“Unfortunately, none of the appeals and efforts were heeded, and a high number of civilians were killed — and that was clearly unacceptable. The Secretary-General strongly believes that there should be a serious and credible accountability process for human rights violations alleged to have been committed by both sides to the conflict, and the Secretary-General has been actively pursuing that based on the commitment made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa,” the UN said. (Daily Mirror online)