Sri Lanka marks 1st anniversary of civil war’s end amid rising criticism over alleged abuses

Sri Lanka marks 1st anniversary of civil war’s end

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka showed off its military hardware during a victory parade Friday to celebrate the first anniversary of the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels, amid growing criticism over alleged rights abuses in the last phase of the quarter-century civil war.

The conflict that killed more than 80,000 people ended last May, when government forces crushed the rebels who had fought for a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, claiming decades of discrimination by the Sinhalese majority.

Artillery, tanks and multi-barrel rocket launchers were featured in the parade down Colombo’s main thoroughfare, Galle Face, facing the Indian Ocean. Thousands of troops, including disabled soldiers in wheelchairs, joined in.

Warplanes and helicopters flew over Galle Face while navy gunships sailed along the coast.

Celebrations came as Sri Lanka faced growing international criticism for not examining abuses allegedly committed during the last phase of the war.

According to U.N. documents, more than 7,000 civilians died in the last five months of the conflict. Rights groups say they have photographic and video evidence, and have called for war crime investigations.

Government troops were accused of shelling a small strip of land where hundreds of thousands of people were boxed-in during the war’s final stages. The rebels were accused of killing noncombatants trying to leave the area they controlled and firing artillery from civilian-populated regions that led to retaliatory military fire.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday denied allegations that civilians were targeted during military operations and said offensives were carried out only to wipe out “terrorism.”

“Not a single bullet was fired at civilians from your weapons,” he said in his address to troops at the parade.

Rajapaksa last month appointed the “Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission” to investigate alleged human rights abuses during the war. Sri Lankan officials have refused calls to establish an international tribunal.

The United Nations, meanwhile, plans to appoint a panel of experts to look into human rights issues in Sri Lanka, despite opposition from the government.

The panel to be announced next week will advise Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “on the way forward on accountability issues related to Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lanka strongly opposes the body’s formation with Rajapaksa in March calling it “totally uncalled for and unwarranted.”

Friday’s parade had been planned for last month, but was delayed because of heavy rains and floods.

Rajapaksa said only those who hate the country would betray the “heroic soldiers” — an apparent reference aimed at the former army chief who is now in military custody.

Sarath Fonseka, the general who led the army to victory over the Tigers, has pledged to support any investigation into alleged war crimes. He was arrested after he unsuccessfully ran in presidential elections against Rajapaksa in January.

He now faces a court-martial for allegedly planning his political career while still in uniform, and breaching regulations in purchasing military hardware. Fonseka’s supporters say Rajapaksa is punishing the general for daring to challenge him.