GENEVA (AP) – The U.N.’s top human rights official is urging the creation of a special court to look into atrocities committed during Sri Lanka’s long civil war, which left tens of thousands dead.
Zeid Raad al-Hussein pointed to horrific abuses during the conflict, including torture, executions, and sexual abuse by security forces, as well as suicide attacks, assassinations and recruitment of child soldiers by rebels. As he presented a 270-page report focusing on the period from 2002 to 2011, Zeid called Wednesday for a “hybrid special court” that would include foreign judges and investigators.
The report comes as the United States is expected to present a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva that aims to improve accountability in Sri Lanka. Rights groups and some governments have urged that an international investigation be undertaken, but Sri Lanka has resisted, saying it would handle the topic domestically.
Zeid hoped the U.N. report will help pave the way for “a most intense reckoning with the past,” insisting that Sri Lanka “will never escape the stinging tentacles of its past” until victims receive some redress. However, he cautioned that details remain to be worked out, such as the extent of the international role in the hybrid court. He said Sri Lanka’s own courts are not yet ready to carry out a fair judicial process.
“It has to be a court that meets the expectations of victims and the international community alike,” he said.