The Sri Lankan Army has announced that they would commence an inquiry into “alleged civilian casualties during the final phase of the humanitarian operations”, by appointing its own five member panel of Army officers.
The announcement from the Army comes just two days after the United States warned that they would support a resolution against Sri Lanka at the upcoming UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.
Human Rights Watch treated the latest move with caution with the groups Asian Director Brad Adams saying that any inquiry must be "meaningful and not just a stunt to prevent a resolution against Sri Lanka next month at the UN Human Rights Council."
"If there is action, it has to encompass not only rank-and-file soldiers but senior officials responsible for giving the orders and creating the policies that led to so many deaths and injuries."
He went to say that similar promises in the past have never resulted in any tangible action.
"We'll believe they are serious about accountability when we see people charged for the very serious abuses in the final stages of the war."
See our earlier post: US will back Sri Lanka resolution – Robert Blake (13 Feb 2012)
Also see Amnesty International’s report, "TwentyYears of Make-Believe: Sri Lanka's Commissions of Inquiry" here.
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