‘Report on Lanka war crimes needs to be studied’

With a UN panel equating killing of tens of thousands of people in the final stages of the Sri Lankan civil strife to "war crimes", India today said the issues raised in the report need to be studied carefully and it intends to engage with Sri Lankan government on these matters.

"The government has seen the Report of the Panel of Experts appointed by the UN Secretary General to advise him on accountability-related issues in the context of the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in May 2009.

"The issues raised in the Report need to be studied carefully. As a first step, we intend to engage with the government of Sri Lanka on the issues contained in the Report," the Ministry of External Affairs said here.

Claiming that most of the civilians lost their lives during shelling by Sri Lankan troops in the final stages of the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) in 2009, the UN panel estimated 40,000 people were killed in the conflict.

"Most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by government shelling. The government systematically shelled hospitals on all fronts. The government systematically deprived people in conflict zone of humanitarian aid in the form of food and medical supplies, particularly surgical supplies, adding to their suffering," said the Report which was officially released yesterday in New York.

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