(New York) - The United Nations Human Rights Council should press the Sri Lankan government to agree to the immediate establishment of a UN human rights field operation with a strong monitoring mandate, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in an open letter today.
As the top UN human rights body prepares to meet in Geneva from December 10 to 14, the human rights situation in Sri Lanka is rapidly deteriorating. In the last two weeks of November alone, more than 50 civilians have been killed in Sri Lanka.
On November 28, two bombings in Colombo killed more than 20 civilians. Other civilians were killed by aerial bombardment, shelling and claymore mine attacks in northern Sri Lanka.
Since September, more than 20,000 people have been newly displaced by the escalation in fighting between government forces and the insurgent Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In Jaffna, the number of enforced disappearances and unlawful killings continues at very high levels. Both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE have failed to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians from harm.
