India must raise concerns with Lanka over rights violations, says comission

India must raise serious concerns with Sri Lanka over human rights violations during and after the end of the nearly three decades long civil war, a leading rights group said on Sunday.

India must raise serious concerns with the Sri Lankan Minister for External Affairs G L Pieris, on his scheduled visit to New Delhi this week, about the crackdown on dissent, repression, thousands of cases of disappearances and extra-judicial killings during and after the war ended in 2009, Amnesty International said in a statement.

India must stand firm in its demand for justice for the war-affected as it had signalled at the UN Human Rights Council in March this year when it made a strong call for an "independent and credible investigation" that would be "to the satisfaction of the international community", the statement said.

Sri Lankan authorities have continued to dither on past promises at the Human Rights Council or pay heed to the serious concerns raised by the international community. With Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) round the corner, the world's eyes remain on Sri Lanka to address its human rights record, it said.

"India must shine the spotlight on Sri Lanka's human rights climate and use G L Peiris's visit as an opportunity to question Sri Lanka's actions in addressing the grave violations that have taken place and continue to, post-conflict," Shashikumar Velath, Amnesty International India's Programmes Director, said.

Many incidents committed by the Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE were reported to Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, the statement said.

These complaints must be effectively addressed, by determining the fate and whereabouts of the missing and punishing parties responsible, it said.

Amnesty International, the UN Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, have made repeated calls on the UN for independent international investigation into serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka.