US insists on an international mechanism to address Sri Lanka’s accountability issue

The United States says it continues to believe that an international mechanism to look at the allegations of war crimes committed during the last phase of Sri Lanka’s war with the Tamil Tiger terrorists is in everyone’s interest.

Responding to a question from media during the press briefing on Monday, the State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said Sri Lanka should take advantage of the Expert Panel appointed by the UN Secretary-General to carry out an investigation on the accountability issue.

“We continue to call on a transparent accounting of Sri Lanka’s actions, and we believe the UN panel of experts is a mechanism that should be taken advantage of in order to carry out that kind of examination and accounting.”

When asked about the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s statement rejecting the calls by the UN, U.S., and other international communities calling for war crimes investigation, the Deputy Spokesperson said he is aware that Sri Lanka has also conducted investigations into alleged human rights abuses during the war, but still believes that an international mechanism is needed and it is in everyone’s interest.

The Sri Lankan government has flatly rejected the UN expert Panel report saying that the report is based on “patently biased material which is presented without verification” and “fundamentally flawed in many respects.”

Sri Lanka last week released a 161-page report aiming to provide the factual background and operational context of the war that ended the 30 years of Tamil Tiger terrorism by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009.

Along with the report Sri Lanka also released an investigative documentary called “Lies Agreed Upon” that examines the events during and after final phase of the war and shows interviews from people affected by the war in the North disputing the allegations by the Western media and human right organisations.