Lanka accuses UN rights body of bias

Sri Lanka has accused the UN's Human Rights Committee of bias in its report on the investigation into the murders of five Tamil students in the eastern port town of Trincomalee in 2006.
Sri Lankan information minister and government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said that the UN body had singled out Sri Lanka while overlooking many atrocities committed by the LTTE during the island's brutal three-decade civil war.
Rambukwella was responding to the assertion by the UN rights committee that Sri Lanka had failed to show adequate progress on the investigation into the murders of the five Tamil students in Trincomalee in 2006.

He said the UN committee had failed to make any reference to the case of 700 policemen murdered by the LTTE in 1990.
"That shows very clearly how biased they are. There were more serious incidents right around. There were 700 policemen who were killed, blindfolded after being asked to surrender. Have they mentioned about that? I can mention 101 cases like that," Rambukwella said.
The UN Human Rights Committee had considered the fifth periodic report submitted by Sri Lanka at its meetings held on October 7 and 8.

On Thursday, it released its concluding observations while taking note of some positive developments in Sri Lanka.

The committee however raised concerns over the 18th Amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution which empowers the president to dismiss or appoint members of the judiciary and other independent bodies.
It also raised concerns that despite the lifting of the emergency regulations, provisions similar to that continue to be applied within the framework of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, including restrictions on freedom of expression and association, arbitrary searches and arrests, and prolonged detention without charge or trial.
The committee urged Sri Lanka to expeditiously investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of enforced disappearances, and establish the whereabouts of missing persons in a transparent and impartial manner.