UN envoy in Lanka as Govt backtracks on war crimes

The UN's top human rights official, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, has arrived in Sri Lanka amid concerns that the country's President is backtracking on promises to investigate war crimes bordering on genocide, BBC reported. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, will spend four days in the country. Sri Lanka had committed to allowing foreign judges to investigate allegations against the Sri Lankan forces. However, President Maithripala Sirisena last month said no foreign judges would be allowed in the investigation. The Sri Lankan troops are accused of killing at least 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the civil war in 2009, including the LTTE chief, Pirbakaran, and his wife and young son. Al Hussein will travel to the former war zone and will meet victims of human rights violations. He will also talk to top government officials, civil activists and religious leaders. Talking to the BBC last month, President Sirisena said Sri Lanka did not need to `import' specialists for an investigation. "We have more than enough specialists, experts and knowledgeable people in our country to solve our internal issues," he said. In October last, Sri Lanka significantly co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution, calling for a special judicial mechanism to prosecute war crimes.