By Arun Kumar
Washington, Oct 23 (IANS) The US has asked the Sri Lankan government to thoroughly investigate charges of war crimes in the final months of its long war with Tamil Tiger rebels and bring those responsible to justice.

Listing what were termed credible allegations of abuses by both sides in the conflict, a State Department report issued Thursday said if the Sri Lankan government really is interested in post-war reconciliation, it should investigate alleged abuses.

The US has been urging Sri Lankan authorities to open up the northern region to international organisations, and to conduct a thorough investigation of the charges, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters Thursday.

“We call on them to develop the kind of mechanisms that can more thoroughly investigate these many allegations which are laid out in this report, and then ultimately - as appropriate - bring to justice those who are found guilty.”

“The government of Sri Lanka has said that they are determined to establish a reconciliation process with the people of the north. But we believe strongly that a very important part of any reconciliation process is accountability,” he said.

The report, mandated by Congress, catalogues alleged war crimes in the bitter fighting on the northern tip of Sri Lanka early this year. Among other things, it cited accounts of the Tamil Tigers recruiting children as combatants and using civilians as human shields.

It also listed reports of government forces shelling nominal safe-haven areas for Tamil civilians, killing rebels trying to surrender, and allowing dismal humanitarian conditions to prevail in displaced-person camps.

The State Department said it could not verify all the reports from diplomats, non-governmental groups and media organisations but said they are credible.

It also said the US recognizes a government’s right to defend itself from attacks by terrorist groups, but that it expects both state and non-state actors to comply with international legal obligations.

The Tamil Tigers, long classified by the US as a terrorist group, waged a 26-year war for an ethnic-Tamil state in the northern part of the mostly-Sinhalese country before its defeat and final surrender in May.