Sri Lanka faces renewed pressure over war crime accountability

Ahead of UN human rights session, high commissioner demands targeted sanctions

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, center, sings the national anthem during Independence Day celebrations in Colombo on Feb. 4. Rajapaksa's government is under pressure ahead of a U.N. Human Rights Council session over issues of accountability for alleged war crimes toward the end of the country's quarter-century long armed conflict in 2009.

MUNZA MUSHTAQ, Contributing Writer

February 10, 2021 15:45 JST

COLOMBO -- The Sri Lankan government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been placed in the hot seat ahead of a U.N. Human Rights Council session beginning later this month amid a failure to ensure accountability for alleged war crimes toward the end of the country's quarter-century long armed conflict.