Sri Lanka urgently needs an international rights monitoring mission following the government's decision to end a truce with Tamil rebels, a London-based rights group said Saturday as clashes continued in the north.
The Minority Rights Group International said Colombo's decision to formally withdraw from the cease-fire deal with the rebels would result in escalating violence and lead to more rights abuses against minority Tamils and Muslims.
The Scandinavian monitoring mission appointed to oversee the cease-fire will cease operations January 16 following the government's decision announced earlier this week.
"There is now going to be a greater void in the monitoring and reporting of human rights abuses in the conflict zone," Minority Rights Group's director Mark Lattimer said in a statement received here. "The need for international human rights monitors is now ever more crucial," Lattimer said.
Sri Lanka has rejected previous calls for a UN rights mission here. The rights group accused the Sri Lankan government of reducing security of key minority politicians and called on Colombo to ensure proper protection for minority political leaders.
The statement came after opposition Tamil lawmaker T. Maheswaran was gunned down earlier this week in Colombo as he prayed at a Hindu Temple. The assassination came just two weeks after Colombo withdrew security from the MP, who later declared in parliament that the government would be responsible if anything happened to him.
Meanwhile, fighting continued in the island's north with the military saying it killed 32 rebels in Mannar and Jaffna district during the 24 hours ending Saturday morning. Four soldiers were wounded. According the government figures, 38 rebels have died in separate clashes since the start of this month while three soldiers have been killed.
There was no comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who are fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the island's north and east. Independent verification of casualty figures is not possible as journalists are not allowed into rebel-held areas. Both sides are known to make sharply varying casualty claims. Tens of thousands of people have died on both sides since the conflict erupted in 1972.