- The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)has passed by consensus a resolution to grant Sri Lanka another two years to set up a credible war crimes investigation into the civil war.Further,Tamil national Alliance has demanded the government of Sri Lanka to adhere to the commitments and include foreign judges in a judicial mechanism to probe the alleged war crimes.
- In 2015,UNHRC had adopted a resolution on accountability for the alleged human rights violations during the Sri Lankan civil war.The resolution had called upon Srilanka to establish a credible judicial process,with the participation of Commonwealth and other foreign judges,defence lawyers and authorised prosecutors and investigators,to go into the alleged rights abuses.
- The resolution was adopted in the backdrop of Sri Lankan government troops been accused of killing at least 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the final months of the island’s 37-year guerrilla war that ended in May 2009.
- UNHRC is an inter-governmental body headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland.It is made up of 47 members states.Members are elected by the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) with 3-year terms,with a maximum of 2 consecutive terms.UNHRC meets 3 times a year to examine human rights violations worldwide.Its resolutions are not legally binding but carry moral authority.
