The call by the rights group followed a report in the Times of London newspaper on Friday citing confidential UN reports that more than 20,000 civilians were killed by Sri Lankan army shelling.

The report followed weeks of allegations that large numbers of civilians had been killed as the army closed in on Tamil Tiger rebels to end the decades- long war.

Amnesty’s Asia Pacific director Sam Zarifi accused both sides of war crimes and called for an independent international probe.

“The Times report underscores the need for this investigation and the UN should do everything it can to determine the truth about the ?bloodbath? that occurred in northeast Sri Lanka,” Zarifi said in statement.

The statement said the UN “must immediately publicise its estimate of the number of civilians killed by the two sides in the final weeks of fighting”.

Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe dismissed Amnesty’s call and said the organisation was being “ridiculous to keep harping on things they cannot substantiate,” he told AFP by telephone from Geneva.

The Colombo-based government, which has rejected demands by the UN Human Rights Council for a fact-finding mission on the war crimes allegations, on Friday angrily dismissed the Times report.

“These figures are way out,” defence ministry spokesman Lakshman Hulugalle said. “We totally deny the allegation that 20,000 people were killed.”

Amnesty said, however, that it continues to receive reports of widespread human rights violations, with more than 280,000 people displaced by the recent fighting and now restricted to state-run welfare camps in the island’s north.

“The UN must address the war crimes and grave human rights violations that have occurred — and could still be occurring — in Sri Lanka,” Zarifi said.

He said that despite repeated calls, the Sri Lankan government continued to restrict access to the camps by international humanitarian organisations, including the UN and the Red Cross.

“I am appealing to all these rights groups to let us get on with the job of resettling these people in their homes in the quickest possible time,” Samarasinghe said.

The island’s military claimed complete victory over separatist Tamil Tigers after wiping out the guerrillas’ leadership nearly two weeks ago.

Amnesty calls for probe of Sri Lanka civilian deaths

Representatives of several Tibetan groups in exile say tensions remain high in Tibet. The groups say China has responded to the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the country with a military crackdown that has increased the climate of fear and intimidation faced by the Tibetan people.

President of the Geneva-based Tibetan U.N. Advocacy group, Ngawang Choepel, likens Tibet to a huge detention center.

“As the Dalai Lama said, it is like a death sentence has been passed upon the Tibetan people. Given these alarming developments and given the history of over 50 years of human rights violations by the Chinese authorities in Tibet, what we are asking today is for a high-level U.N. engagement with the Chinese authorities to stop these brutal crackdowns against the Tibetan people,” said Choepel.

At the current session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, a number of leading human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have presented reports on the deplorable human rights situation in Tibet.

Choepal says he is pleased by the amount of evidence presented in these reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearances. But, he adds, he is disappointed by the reports presented by several U.N. rights groups.

“For example, the report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has not highlighted the massive arbitrary detentions which took place in Tibet … Now concerning the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, again my own NGO submitted cases. But, this year, very, very little attention has been paid. And, we must not forget the case of the Panchan Lama of Tibet. His disappearance remains an outstanding case before the Working Group,” said Choepel.

Twelve years ago, the 11th Panchan Lama, then six years old, disappeared after the Dalai Lama nominated him to this position. He and his family have not been seen since. The Chinese authorities say they are well and do not want to be disturbed.

The Tibetan groups are asking the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay to lead a high-level inquiry into the situation of Tibetans. But, the prospects are not promising. They say requests to meet with the High Commissioner have gone unanswered.

Tibetan Groups Urgently Appeal for UN Intervention

The demonstration in Athens was part of a previously scheduled nationwide strike but has developed into a protest against the government’s handling of the crisis that has seen four days of rioting.

Flights were grounded, banks and schools closed and hospital services restricted.

“Participation in the strike is total. The country has come to a standstill,” said Stathis Anestis, spokesman for the GSEE private sector union federation, one of two union groups that have organised today’s rally.

Running battles between Greek police and thousands of protesters angry at the shooting of the 15-year-old student intensified yesterday as antagonism boiled over outside the cemetery where the boy was being buried.

Security forces fought pitched battles with stone-throwing youths outside Athens’s parliament and in Salonika, the northern capital.

As thousands descended on the coastal suburb of Faliro for the funeral of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, killed by a bullet to the chest on Saturday, hooded youths chanting “pigs, murderers” began baiting police. Before the funeral had ended they hurled stones, iron bars and marble slabs at officers, while residents ran for cover. As the boy’s flower-covered casket was lowered into the ground the air was thick with acrid smoke from successive rounds of teargas fired by the police.

Amnesty International has called for the Greek authorities to end the “unlawful and disproportionate use of force by police”.

“Images in the international media and eyewitness statements to Amnesty International present mounting evidence of police beating and ill-treating peaceful demonstrators,” said Nicola Duckworth, the group’s Europe and Central Asia programme director.

The worst civil disturbances to hit Greece in decades, the riots have not only dealt another blow to the already badly dented popularity of the ruling conservatives but also left a trail of devastation.

In Athens alone, officials estimate that more than 200 stores, 50 banks and countless cars have been damaged. Shops are shut and streets devoid of shoppers. Hospitals have also reported an increase in the number of wounded, believed to have exceeded 70.

With the prime minister, Costas Karamanlis, facing growing criticism for his handling of the crisis – and his single-seat majority in the 300-member parliament looking increasingly vulnerable – the opposition leader, George Papandreou, stepped up calls for early elections. Coming out of emergency talks – requested by Karamanlis in an attempt to contain the crisis – Papandreou said it had become clear the government was incapable of defending the public from rioters.

“It cannot handle this crisis and has lost the trust of the Greek people,” said the leader, whose socialist Pasok party has surged in the polls in recent months. “The best thing it can do is resign and let the people find a solution.”

That was a view widely shared by many of the leftist and self-styled anarchists fuelling the riots. At the Athens Polytechnic, now the centre of the groups’ operations, young men and women broke up marble slabs and stocked up on firebombs. Standing behind makeshift barriers of burning rubbish bins, they promised to turn the unrest into “an uprising the likes of which Greece has never seen”.

As the site of the revolt against the colonels’ regime in 1974, the polytechnic’s colonnaded buildings are off-limits to security forces under a constitutional clause that gives students asylum on its grounds.

“This is not just about the kid. It’s about our dreadful education and economic situation. That’s what pushed us on to the streets,” insisted one youth who called himself Andreas. “It’s our belief and hope that this is the beginning of a rebellion against the system.”

The chaos, he said, had exposed the deep-seated anger of Greeks who after the introduction of the euro have not only struggled to make ends meet but have increasingly felt deceived by a system that thrives on corruption, party political affiliations and patronage.

“All of us have poor parents who are struggling,” he said.

For young Greeks like Andreas, a lost generation without work or hope, their rage is fuelled by allegations of corruption and the seemingly relentless scandals involving sex, money and the church that have swirled around the conservatives – and for which, despite public outrage, no one has been punished.

“We all thought it would take one incident for things to go up, and with the police killing of the teenage boy that is exactly what happened,” said a veteran political analyst, Konstantinos Angelopoulos.

Yesterday, the rioting spread to Crete and Corfu, where hundreds took to the streets, and intensified in at least a dozen cities across the country. Greek demonstrators occupied the country’s consulate in Paris, following protests in London, Berlin and Nicosia on Monday.

The market-oriented government faces growing anger over its tough fiscal policies from workers demanding more state social spending as well as salary and pension increases. Unions called on workers to participate in the walk-out “and demonstrate our opposition to state repression and the consequences of the [economic] crisis”.

In all, eight parties met behind closed doors at the U.N.’s European headquarters in Geneva for the one-day talks and agreed to meet again next month, EU representative Pierre Morel said.

“Today we have taken a big step forward,” Morel said. “All of the participants have recognized that the security situation remains quite unsatisfactory.”

The U.N. refugee agency estimates more than 30,000 people are still unable to return to their homes, and tensions in the region remain high.

“There are places where ethnic clashes and ethnic hatred still prevail,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin admitted.

His comments were mirrored by Georgia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria, who said he feared “ethnic cleansing in those occupied territories where ethnic Georgians still live.”

Morel said it was the first time that all of the parties had met directly. An initial attempt at negotiations broke down last month, in part over disagreements whether representatives from Georgia’s two breakaway provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, should take part.

Maxim Gvindzhiya of Abkhazia’s separatist government said his delegation and one from South Ossetia attended on an informal basis this time to keep the talks on track.

The other participants were the EU, the U.N., Russia, Georgia, the United States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said the talks “went far better” than last time.

“There were productive discussions of some of the tough issues. (But) there remain vast areas of fundamental differences,” Fried said. “There were and are a lot of people with guns … who just want to shoot.”

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called the talks “a positive step.”

Russia, meanwhile, said it reiterated during the meeting that Georgia needs to pledge not to attack South Ossetia or Abkhazia, and that other countries should refrain from supplying Tbilisi with offensive military weapons.

Karasin said he came away with a “mixed” assessment of the meeting, but added now there is a “sense of hope.”

Johan Verbeke, special U.N. envoy for Georgia, said the sides had agreed on methods to demarcate borders and had begun work on security issues and the return of refugees.

“I’d call this a quantum leap,” said Verbeke. “All of the delegations did speak, all of the delegations listened.”

More than 160,000 people fled fighting that broke out Aug. 7 when Georgian forces launched an attack to regain control of South Ossetia. Russian forces repelled the attack, drove deep into Georgia, and stayed there for weeks.

Russia still has thousands of troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and has recognized both as independent nations.

Amnesty International has accused both sides of violating international law during the war.

The Associated Press:

Amnesty says all sides in the August conflict may have committed abuses. In its new report, Amnesty says Georgian and Russian forces and militia fighters in the breakaway South Ossetia region should be investigated for war crimes during the conflict.

Amnesty’s John Dalhuisen says there is strong evidence of human rights violations, noting concerns over “indiscriminate attacks by Georgian forces on entering Tskhinvali and then Russian forces in reply.

“Amnesty is also very concerned with the “looting, pillaging and destruction of civilian property essentially by South Ossetian forces and militia groups in aftermath of the conflict,” said Dalhuisen.

The war erupted when Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili launched a military operation against separatists in the breakaway province of South Ossetia to bring them under Tbilisi’s control.

Russia responded with overwhelming military force, pushing deep inside Georgia. Dalhuisen says an in-depth investigation needs to take place and recommends an international humanitarian fact-finding commission established under the Geneva convention that both Georgia and Russia agree to.

The New York-based group, Human Rights Watch agrees. It says Georgian and Russian forces used cluster bombs in the conflict and the group’s representative in Tbilisi, Giorgi Gogia, says those bombs that failed to explode have now become de-facto landmines.

“We have called for both sides to provide the strike data to the de-mining organizations to raise awareness and conduct education programs for the civilians that have gone back in the affected areas,” said Gogia. He says Human Rights Watch is also calling on both sides to sign the Cluster Bomb treaty in December.

Professor Sergei Arutiunov, a Caucasus expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, says abuses in South Ossetia must be exposed. But, he says, the army also needs the support of trained police forces in the breakaway region.

“Armies are not geared for police work, to maintain order,” he said. “Marauding and criminal activity happens even after a short war.” This “chaos must be rooted out.”

Though the hostilities have ended, human rights groups say there are more than 20,000 ethnic Georgians unable to return to their homes in South Ossetia – with no prospect of doing so in the near future.

VOA News

Last year, Russia was accused by Amnesty International of violating a United Nations resolution by supplying weapons to Sudan that were used in Darfur, a charge the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected. The United Nations imposed an embargo on the sale and delivery of arms to Darfur in 2004. In Washington, the State Department deputy spokesman, Robert Wood, said the sale was “the last thing that country needs.”

NYTimes.com

Religious beliefs

Nkunda claims to be a devout Pentecostal Christian and says most of his troops have converted as well. In the 2008 documentary “Blood Coltan” about the real costs of mobile phones, Nkunda proudly shows a button he wears that reads “Rebels for Christ.” He claims to be a Seventh Day Adventist Priest and that he receives help and guidance from American “Rebels for Christ” who visit the Congo spreading Pentecostal Christianity.

Human rights

Throughout the years Nkunda has come under scrutiny and been accused by a number of organizations of committing Human Rights abuses. Nkunda has been indicted for war crimes in September 2005 and is under investigation by the International Criminal Court.

According to human rights monitors such as Refugees International, Nkunda’s troops have been alleged to have committed acts of murder, rape, and pillaging of civilian villages; a charge which Nkunda denies. Amnesty International says his troops have abducted children as young as 12 and forced them to serve as child soldiers.

In May 2002, he was accused of massacring 160 people in Kisangani, prompting UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson to call for his arrest following the abduction and beating of two UN investigators by his troops. He has claimed that the UN have ignored the widespread attacks on Tutsis in the region as they did during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

Website

Laurent Nkunda

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