15 Aug 2010

Tamil complaints heard by govt panel

2:43 pm on 15 August 2010

Tamils in northern Sri Lanka have complained to a special government commission about abuses suffered during the last years of the civil war.

The panel has invited people in Vavuniya to speak - either in public or in private - of their experiences of war. Six came forward.

Some said family members had been abducted and never seen again.

Others said they believed the military was holding their husbands, who had previously worked with the Tamil Tigers, but they lacked clear information.

The BBC reports the government has dismissed calls for an independent inquiry.

The commission will also hold hearings in refugee centres and camps where thousands of men and women said to have links with the Tamil Tigers are still detained.

A rebellion by the Tamil Tigers ended last year after 37 years of civil war.