Issues
Rudd lobbied on Sri Lankan abuses
The head of Amnesty International has personally urged Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to get behind calls for an independent international
Kevin Rudd
investigation into Sri Lankan war crimes.
Amnesty secretary-general Salil Shetty told Mr Rudd during a meeting in Canberra on Tuesday that the Sri Lankan government’s own inquiry into the country’s civil war was a sham.
“We know what it’s going to say because we know that the process was deeply flawed,” Mr Shetty told AAP shortly after his meeting with Mr Rudd.
“We’ve waited long enough. The time is right to call for an independent investigation.”
Mr Shetty said Mr Rudd appeared receptive to the idea.
“He understands where we are coming from. I think they’re going to actively consider our request,” he said.
A series of reports have accused Sri Lanka of committing war crimes during its final 2009 offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels. The offensive crushed the Tigers, bringing the decades-old civil war to an end. The Tigers have also been accused of atrocities.
Comment was being sought from Mr Rudd.
He has previously expressed concerns about civilian casualties during the final stages of the war. Mr Rudd told a Tamil community forum in June that he believed all allegations of human-rights violations should be “tested, assessed and, if accurate, substantiated”.
But he also said Labor would wait to see the final report of the Sri Lankan government’s inquiry before assessing the need for further probes.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is set to visit Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this month.
Sri Lanka is also set to host the next CHOGM meeting, and Mr Shetty says that is “totally unacceptable” until after the war-crimes allegations are properly dealt with.
Mr Shetty also used the meeting to thank Mr Rudd for the government’s strong support for pro-democracy uprisings in Libya, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.
Mr Rudd’s office later told AAP Australia continued to urge Sri Lanka to address serious allegations of international humanitarian and human rights law violations during the final stages of the conflict there.
See http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/rudd-lobbied-on-sri-lankan-abuses-20111011-1litq.html