U.N. rights boss urges international war crimes probe for Sri Lanka

By Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez COLOMBO (Reuters) – An international inquiry into alleged Sri Lankan war crimes would allow witnesses to testify after domestic probes failed to carry out credible investigations, the U.N. human rights chief said on Wednesday, on the eve of a resolution that is critical of the Indian Ocean island nation. Sri Lanka is under international pressure to deal with war crimes allegedly committed in the final stage of a 26-year conflict, in which the army defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels five years ago. The United States has presented a draft resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate "past abuses and to examine more recent attacks on journalists, human rights defenders, and religious minorities." The vote is scheduled to be held on Thursday at the 47-member-state forum in Geneva. Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that none of Sri Lanka's various domestic mechanisms to investigate past violations had the independence to be effective or inspire confidence among victims and witnesses.