“Don’t marginalise Sri Lanka”: Nasheed to Human Rights Council

The report accuses the Sri Lankan military of killing tens of thousands of civilians through shelling in the closing days of its war with Tamil separatists, and increases the likelihood that the Human Rights Council may be called on to vote for a full international, independent investigation.

Sri Lanka has meanwhile rejected the report’s findings and stated that it opposes an outside investigation. Instead, the government has appointed its own ‘Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC), which is expected to publish its findings on November 15.

Central to the UN’s case is graphic footage of the execution of bound and gagged prisoners, which the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Christof Heyns, described as reflecting “crimes of the highest order — definitive war crimes.”