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A senior US lawmaker on Monday urged Sri Lanka to take concrete action on human rights after a UN panel found credible allegations of war crimes in the bloody 2009 finale to the civil war.

Representative Howard Berman, the top member of President Barack Obamas Democratic Party on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Sri Lanka must ensure that those involved in violations of human rights are held to account in a transparent and expeditious manner.

I am deeply concerned that the government of Sri Lanka has thus far chosen to protest the reports conclusions rather than accept the recommendations of the UN panel, Berman said in a statement.

Berman said he also favored action against any surviving members of the Tamil Tiger rebels accused of rights violations.

Unless the government takes real action to investigate and punish those guilty of war crimes, I fear there can be no sustainable reconciliation process to move the country forward, the California lawmaker said.

A UN panel of experts recommended an international investigation over the armys 2009 final offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels, saying there was credible evidence of war crimes on both sides.

The panel said hospitals, UN centers and Red Cross ships were deliberately shelled by government forces, prisoners shot in the head and women raped, while the Tigers used 330,000 civilians as human shields, AFP reports.

SNS Communication

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