Western states want Sri Lanka to grant aid groups access

Western states want Sri Lanka to grant aid groups accessGeneva - A draft declaration was tabled Monday at the United Nations Human Rights Council by a group of Western nations calling on Sri Lanka's government to cooperate with aid agencies and care for minorities.

The text was drafted by Switzerland, ahead of Tuesday's special session at the council on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, following the cessation of hostilities there, after 26 years of civil war.

Some 80,000 to 100,000 people are estimated by the UN to have been killed during the conflict.

Since the end of 2008, when the government's forces stepped up a campaign to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels (LTTE), estimates have placed the civilian death toll at at at least 7,000.

Rebels are accused of not allowing civilians to escape while the government is said to have used heavy weaponry in densely populated civilian areas.

Over 280,000 people are currently internally displaced, living mainly in a large refugee camp run by the Sri Lankan military.

Aid groups, including the UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, have been denied full access to the camp.

The Western text calls for Sri Lanka to fulfil its pledge to return 80 per cent of the displaced to their homes by the end of the year.

"The special session is an excellent opportunity for Sri Lanka to address the post-conflict situation in the right way," advocacy group Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

"Although the fighting has stopped, the humanitarian situation is still alarming and real improvements are needed now," the advocacy group said.

The Western text, which had the support of a dozen members of the 47 states on the council, would go up against a resolution tabled last week by Sri Lanka itself, which called for the proteection of its own sovereignty.

That draft resolution also asks the council to commend the work of the Sri Lankan government on the displaced.

Neither text called for an independent commission inquiry into war crimes allegations, as UN rights experts had recommended. European foreign ministers also recently backed such a commission.

The session was called for last week by Germany with the backing of 16 other council members. Several of the original backers of the session, mostly Latin American countries, did not sign onto the draft declaration tabled Monday.(dpa)