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Colombo: A new report by Human Rights Watch released on Thursday has said Sri Lanka's government is responsible for widespread abductions and disappearances in Sri Lanka and calls for greater UN involvement.
Hundreds of abductions, disappearances and killings since the civil war waging in Sri Lanka have been blamed on both sides.
But the report alleges that the Sri Lankan government has sanctioned the forced disappearances of hundreds of people, and features interviews with families of the ‘disappeared’.
Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Elaine Pearson said in a statement: "President Mahinda Rajapaksa, once a rights advocate, has now led his government to become one of the world's worst perpetrators of forced disappearances.”
This notion has been denied by the Sri Lankan government, which has described the allegations as “exaggerated”.
Citing that the situation has improved considerably, a spokesman said the claims are concocted “in order to give the country a bad name."
The government so far has dismissed reports of abductions and disappearances and has rejected calls for a UN human rights monitoring mission.
Pearson continued that a UN mission is imperative for the situation to be resolved, adding that the Sri Lankan government's rejection of it reflects badly on its commitment to human rights.
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