The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Colombo

The Sri Lankan government never seriously investigated reports of human rights abuses during 25 years of civil war and needs to rapidly overhaul its justice system to bring peace to the country, Amnesty International said Thursday.

The London-based rights group said the problem is even more urgent in the wake of the government's defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels last month in a bloody offensive that the United Nations says left more than 7,000 civilians dead.

Human rights groups and diplomats accused the government of shelling heavily populated civilian areas and said the rebels held thousands of civilians as human shields, shooting those who tried to flee. Both sides denied the accusations.

"If communities that have been torn apart by decades of violence and impunity are to be reconciled, the Sri Lankan government should initiate internal reforms and seek international assistance to prevent ongoing violations and ensure real accountability for past abuses," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director.

In a report, the group called for the establishment of an international commission to investigate those allegations because past government probes into abuses have gone nowhere.

The government has repeatedly brushed off such calls, saying an international probe would interfere with the country's sovereignty.

Rajiva Wijesinha, secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, said the government's own commission of inquiry into a series of recent allegations of human rights abuses was proceeding, albeit slowly.

"These things take time, and we can't allow any possibility of injustice to happen," he said.

Last March, an international panel of experts established to advise the latest commission of inquiry resigned, saying the government lacked the political will to properly investigate alleged abuses, including the 2006 execution-style slaying of 17 aid workers for the French organization Action Against Hunger.

The Amnesty International report accuses the government of interfering with past investigations, by using bribes, threats and even murder to eliminate witnesses.

It said the vast majority of human rights violations are never investigated and those that are rarely end in convictions because hearings drag on, witnesses refuse to testify and in some cases even the prosecution does not show up.

At the same time, the country's human rights commission has been stripped of its authority, local rights activists have been threatened, the U.N. has been obstructed and the press has been stifled, the group said.

Meanwhile, a Japanese mediator said President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised to work for political and democratic reform in the country following the victory over the separatist rebels.