At its March 2013 session, the United Nations Human Rights Council should authorize an independent, international investigation into war crimes committed during the final months of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to council members today.

Since the council adopted a resolution on Sri Lanka at its March 2012 session calling for action, the Sri Lankan government has taken no significant steps to provide justice for victims of abuse and accountability for those responsible, the HRW website reported.

“Over the past year the Sri Lankan government has alternated between threatening activists who seek justice and making small, cynical gestures to keep the international community at bay,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Human Rights Council should dismiss these tactics, end the delays and authorize an independent, international investigation into the estimated 40,000 civilian deaths at the conflict’s end.”

On February 11, 2013, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a highly critical reporton the Sri Lankan government’s failure to provide justice and accountability and urged “an independent and credible international investigation into alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law”, the website further reported.

Human Rights Watch called on Human Rights Council members to support a resolution that would establish an international investigation under the high commissioner’s office.