The United Nations released a report Wednesday saying Sri Lanka cannot rely on its own justice system and instead should use a special court to achieve accountability for violations that took place during the country's 26-year civil war.
The recommendation came as part of a report on what the U.N. Human Rights office said were possible war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict that pitted government forces against rebels seeking independence for the nation's Tamil minority. The fighting killed up to 100,000 people, according to widely accepted estimates.
Sri Lanka, the report said, should look to the way other countries have used international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators.
"A purely domestic court procedure will have no chance of overcoming widespread and justifiable suspicions fueled by decades of violations, malpractice and broken promises," U.N. rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said.
The report praised Sri Lanka's new government for its stated commitment to seek accountability, but detailed multiple obstacles such as what it said is the lack of a reliable system to protect victims and witnesses.