The People’s Union for Civil Liberties on Friday urged the Centre to grant visa to the three-member panel of the United Nations Human Rights Council mandated to meet the eyewitnesses and “victims of war crimes” from Sri Lanka living as refugees in India.
Talking to reporters here, PUCL national general secretary V. Suresh said the Centre’s refusal of visa to the team was “shameful”. The panel members Martti Ahtisaari, Nobel Laureate and former President of Finland; Silvia Cartwright, former Governor-General and Judge, High Court of New Zealand; and Asma Jahangir, former president of Pakistan’s Human Right Commission, were known for the highest standards of integrity and impartiality.
The Sri Lankan security forces turned lakhs of non-combatant Tamils into victims of war crimes during the conflict between January and May 2009, he said.
