UN SL report sent to Human Rights Council

13 September 2011 02:00 am

UN leader Ban Ki Moon on Monday sent a report accusing Sri Lankan troops of killing tens of thousands of people in an offensive against Tamil separatists to the UN Human Rights Council, bringing an international inquiry one step closer.

Mr Ban has said that he alone cannot order an inquiry into the killings - which the Sri Lankan government has strongly denied - but that a forum such as the Human Rights Council could do so.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said the report had been sent to the Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

A panel of experts named by Mr Ban said in April that the Sri Lankan army killed most of the tens of thousands of civilian victims of a final offensive against Tamil separatists in 2009 but both sides may be guilty of war crimes. (AFP)