Sri Lanka must launch rights abuse probe, says UN body

GENEVA (AFP) - Sri Lanka must launch an in-depth probe into claims that government troops killed 40,000 civilians during a 2009 offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels that ended its three-decade civil war, the UN Human Rights Council said on March 21.

The UN's top human rights forum passed a resolution pressing Colombo to "credibly investigate widespread allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances". To date, it said, Sri Lanka has failed to "adequately address serious allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law".

Lodged by the United States - whose embassy in Colombo was the scene of protests by pro-government activists on March 21 - the text was backed by nations in Europe, as well as Canada and India.

"The resolution does very clearly state that the international community knows an independent and credible investigation must go forward, and that's what's lacking," US ambassador to the council Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told reporters.