Amnesty International has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an international mechanism to investigate violations of international law in Sri Lanka, in a written statement submitted to the council.

Released earlier this month, the non-governmental organisation called for a independent international investigation adding,

“the international community must ensure that those suspected of the crimes are prosecuted in genuine proceedings in full conformity with international standards for fair trial.”

Noting the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights statement in September 2013, which called on the international community to establish its own inquiry mechanism in the absence of successful prosecutions for human rights abuse perpetrators, the organisation went on to add,

“Amnesty International believes it is high time to establish such an international mechanism”.

They also stated,

“The Government of Sri Lanka has not initiated a credible investigative process and has not made demonstrable progress towards prosecution of alleged perpetrators. It continues to rely on forces allegedly responsible for serious violations to police themselves. In 2013, an army court of inquiry exonerated the Sri Lankan military for civilian casualties in the last stage of military operations, concluding that any casualties that occurred were the fault of the LTTE. The report remains unpublished.”

“The absence of credible government action to end Sri Lanka’s longstanding climate of impunity has allowed serious violations of human rights to continue. Credible allegations of extrajudicial executions in police custody are again on the rise, and torture is reported frequently.”

See their full statement here.