Amnesty International on Tuesday blamed India for weakening the US-backed draft resolution at the UN Human Rights Council seeking accountability for mass killings of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka in 2009.
The Deccan Herald and Washington Post both reported that India has been in touch with Washington to soften criticism of Sri Lanka.
G Ananthapadmanabhan, head of Amnesty International India said in a statement:
“The revised US draft resolution is much softer in the context of the overwhelming volume of new evidence [of mass atrocities] that has been unearthed since the 21st session of UNHRC last [March].
“There is a lot of evidence in this draft resolution to clearly show the imprint of Indian influence. There is a significant downgrading of the international community’s concerns regarding rights violations in Sri Lanka.”
“It is disappointing that the [diluted] resolution does not call for an international investigation,” Ananthapadmanabhan said.
On Friday Amnesty International gave a petition to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed by 1.4 million Indians seeking an independent international probe into allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
"This petition represents the voices of 14 lakh ordinary Indian citizens asking India to play a stronger role in seeking justice in Sri Lanka," Ananthapadmanabhan said.
"This is a demand for an end to the impunity for past and present human rights violations in Sri Lanka."
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