Sri Lankan foreign secretary rejects 'unsubstantiated' UN report

Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary has slammed a UN report just hours after it has been released, labelling it “unsubstantiated” and rejected calls for an international accountability mechanism for war crimes.

“Unsubstantiated accusations against government officers are wrong,” said Admiral Jayanath Colombage, who himself stands accused of being complicit in torture.

“If they have something they have to follow an internationally accepted procedure,” he added.

Read more: BREAKING – UN report warns of ‘seeds of future violence’ in Sri Lanka

Earlier this week, Colombage hit out at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United States and the Tamil diaspora in an interview on Monday, claiming that organisations were “bullying” Sri Lanka. Last week, Colombage said his regime was firm on withdrawing from a UN resolution on accountability, as he slammed the global body, claiming there was an “ulterior motive” behind calls for a justice mechanism and that thousands of forcibly disappeared Tamils are abroad “living somewhere”.

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