Action Contre la Faim (ACF) has concluded that Sri Lanka's security forces were most likely responsible for the massacre of 17 of its Tamil aid workers, and that justice will not be reached internally due to interference and cover-ups by top Sri Lankan authorities.

The French NGO has released a report on its findings investigating “the truth about the assassination of 17 aid workers” on 4th August 2006 in Muttur, Trincomalee.

The 17 workers were lined up and summarily executed on the ACF’s premises, in a massacre which is described in the report’s executive summary as “one of the most atrocious war crimes ever committed against humanitarian personnel.”

The organisation explains that “with no prospects of an effective domestic investigation today, ACF has decided to publicly say what it knows about the Muttur massacre.” Further stating:

“ACF has closely followed the domestic investigation only to become convinced that the Sri Lankan justice system is incapable of investigating the case.”

“ACF has also collected information which reveals that the 17 humanitarian aid workers were likely assassinated by members of Sri Lankan security forces and the criminals must have been covered up by Sri Lankan top authorities.”

“ACF believes that only an independent international investigation can effectively lead to prosecution of the killers.”

See here for full report.