INHUMAN RUSSIA,CHINA,INDIA WERE REASONS FOR DEFEAT OF UNHRC RESOLUTION!! NO RESPECT FOR TAMIL LIVES/ FEELINGS!!URGENT NEED FOR PROBE !! STOP C.CAMPS!!

UN RIGHTS CHIEF PRESSES FOR SRI LANKA PROBE

GENEVA (AFP)- The United Nations Human Rights Chief and campaigners pressed for an independent probe into the conduct of the war in Sri Lanka after the world body's top rights assembly rejected calls for an inquiry.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navaneetham Pillay maintained her demand for an investigation into abuses allegedly carried out by both sides in Sri Lanka's just-ended civil war, a spokesman told AFP.

"She still believes there needs to be an inquiry into very serious abuses," spokesman Rupert Colville said on Thursday. "An international probe will answer the question marks in the clearest way."

While the Tamil Tigers were accused of holding tens of thousands of civilians as human shields before being crushed by the army earlier this month, government troops were alleged to have indiscriminately shelled rebel-held areas packed with civilians.On Wednesday, the UNHRC adopted a resolution proposed by Sri Lanka and non-aligned states that welcomed Colombo's pledges to seek reconciliation and resettle "the bulk" of displaced people within six months.

But it rejected the tougher approach advocated by Western nations, including the need to investigate alleged violations at the final stages of the nearly three-decade-old conflict.

Before the vote, Ms. Pillay told the 47-member Council that "an independent and credible international investigation" should probe attacks on civilians during this period.

Twenty-nine countries approved the resolution on Wednesday, while 12 mainly western countries rejected it. Six nations abstained in the vote.

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch sharply criticized the outcome, saying that the UN's top human rights assembly had ignored calls for an investigation with "a deeply flawed resolution".

"The Human Rights Council did not even express its concern for the hundreds of thousands of people facing indefinite detention in government camps," HRW advocacy director Juliette de Rivero said in Geneva.

"The council ignored urgent needs and wasted an important chance to promote human rights."

The special session of the council was called by European countries alarmed at the number of civilian casualties as well as restrictions on access to displaced Tamil civilians kept in camps ringed by barbed wire.

Rights groups Sri Lankan ministers hailed the outcome of the meeting in Geneva as a ringing international endorsement of their handling of the war and its aftermath.

"This final result shows that Sri Lanka stands on top in terms of wide support across the globe," Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said.

Amnesty International's representative in Geneva, Peter Splinter, said the vote "sent a congratulatory message to Sri Lanka."

At least one major campaign group was probing the allegations of abuse and possible war crimes on the Indian Ocean Island, human rights sources said, claiming that more evidence would surface over the coming months.

The United Nations and Western countries could also explore other avenues for an investigation if they see little progress in Sri Lanka, including through the General Assembly, the Security Council and Ms. Pillay's office.

But Colombo was able to mobilize heavyweight political support in Geneva, including that of China, India, and Russia, as well as several Asian and Islamic nations.

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