WASHINGTON (AP) — Two senators are urging the Obama administration to seek an independent international investigation into allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
Democrats Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Patrick Leahy of Vermont sent a letter Tuesday to outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying Sri Lanka's government has done nothing to bring to justice those responsible for atrocities in the civil war that ended in 2009.
Thousands of civilians died in the final months of the war when the Sri Lankan military launched a decisive offensive against ethnic Tamil rebels. Sri Lanka set up a commission to investigate alleged abuses, but rights groups say the military is not being held to account.
The Obama administration has called for steps toward accountability but has not called for an international investigation.
