The Sri Lankan government angrily rejected a US state department report containing allegations of human rights abuses in the final days of the country's civil war, saying the document would fan further conflict.
According to accounts said by a senior US state department official to be "credible and well substantiated", government forces abducted and killed ethnic Tamil civilians, shelled and bombed no-fire zones, and killed senior LTTE leaders with whom they had brokered a surrender.
Although the US stressed the allegations in the report did not constitute an accusation of war crimes, the Sri Lankan foreign affairs ministry in Colombo accused the US of smearing its reputation.
"The allegations against the government of Sri Lanka ... appear to be unsubstantiated and devoid of corroborative evidence. There is a track record of vested interests endeavouring to bring the government of Sri Lanka into disrepute, through fabricated allegations and concocted stories."
"Thereby these interests hope to fan, once again, the flames of secessionism and to undo the concerted efforts of the Government and people of Sri Lanka, for rehabilitation and national reconciliation. The people of Sri Lanka therefore have every reason to be concerned that this report to the US Congress, may be abused for a similar end,” said a statement issued by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
"Sri Lanka’s domestic jurisprudence provides all the necessary scope for those perceiving themselves subjected to a violation of their human rights, to obtain redress through judicial directives to the concerned authorities," the statement said.
Stephen Rapp, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, called on Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of abuse by both sides.
"We want accountability in this situation," he said.
"We believe that [Sri Lankan authorities] can investigate this. We're trusting in that commitment."
The report says it reaches no conclusions on the veracity of the charges, although Rapp said the individual sources were "credible and reliable" and that allegations had been corroborated.
The US embassy in Colombo also defended the report, saying a majority of the incidents cited originated from first-hand accounts from people who had been in government-declared "no fire zones" and locations close to the fighting during military operations that concluded in May.
The US embassy said the report detailed incidents that occurred during the final months of the conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that might constitute violations of International humanitarian law or crimes against humanity.
"The report compiles alleged incidents, as reported by a wide range of primary and secondary sources, involving both sides in the conflict," the US embassy said.
The US Congress report came less than three days after the European Union also submitted a report that accused the government of violating International human rights laws.
