As UN Votes On War Crime Resolution, Canadian Fact Finding Envoy Holds Talks In Sri Lanka

  • Rate this Story
  • 0
  • 0

By Tendar Tsering | March 21, 2013 7:35 PM EST

Canadian fact-finding envoy in Sri Lanka, Hugh Segal held talks with its government officials while the UN Human Rights Council Will vote Thursday to pass a resolution on the alleged human rights and war crimes that occurred during its 26-year civil war in the country.

Reuters
Sri Lanka

The U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva will vote on a resolution sponsored by the United States and which would raise concerns about the killings of thousands of lives by its military while fighting against its rebels in the South Asian island nation.

The visiting Canadian envoy is assigned to find out the real ground situation in the country and report back to the Canadian government before the country decides if Canadian delegates will attend the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka November.

"I have had a day and a half of meetings with various civil society groups, some parliamentarians, international organizations, Commonwealth and other diplomats and officials of Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry," Hugh Segal told reporters.

"As you may know, the level of our delegation to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting scheduled for November in Colombo has yet to be decided. I shall report back to the Foreign Minister after my trip is concluded," added Segal.

A UN panel April 2011 accused the Sri Lanka government and its Tamil Tiger rebels of killing innocent civilians and violating international law in the final days of the 26-year old war that ended in 2009.

Petitions are circulating on the social networks by human rights activists asking for an independent international fact-finding committee to be sent into the country instead of forcing the government to carry out an internal investigation.

"An independent and fair probe into the human rights violations, and fixing accountability are crucial steps towards the rehabilitation of the affected people in war-ravaged Sri Lanka," said an activist in a petition letter that the IBTimes accessed from the World's petition site Change.org.

To contact the editor, e-mail:

(Photo: Reuters / )
Sri Lanka
  • Rate this Story
  • 0
  • 0
This article is copyrighted by IBTimes.ca, the business news leader

Join the Conversation

IBTimes TV

E-Newsletters

We value your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.