US to pressure on Sri Lanka to probe war crimes

The United States has asked the UN Human Rights Council to pressure Sri Lanka to credibly investigate alleged war crimes committed during the final stages of its 26-year civil war. US diplomats introduced a draft resolution Wednesday calling on Sri Lanka’s government “to initiate credible and independent actions” such as investigating how it demolished the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. The European Union also is pressuring for more follow-up on allegations both the government and defeated rebels committed serious abuses that could amount to war crimes, especially as the conflict was ending in 2009. Sri Lanka has fiercely resisted attempts by the UN to call for an independent probe of abuses and says it has sufficiently investigated.