Sri Lanka bows to pressure on war crimes probe

Sri Lanka will reconvene its dormant human rights commission to begin hearing new complaints in a bid to silence global criticism of its refusal to investigate war crimes allegations made by a U.N.-appointed panel, Reuters reports.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, which has no judicial powers beyond recommending government authorities take action, said it will begin a probe of serious rights violations nationwide, including those from the war, the agency said.

The commission will comprise retired judges, but there's not much visibility on the seriousness with which it will discharge its responsibilities, and observers say that the threat of an international probe is a remote possibility — given that such a move would likely draw a veto from China or Russia.

Reuters cited President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government as saying that the separate Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) is already implementing reconciliation moves shaped by testimony taken from those affected by the war. However, critics say the LLRC is unlikely to be any more successful than four decades' worth of Sri Lankan probes into rights abuses, which found nothing and held no one responsible.