voa标准英语2013--Sri Lanka Denies Accusations of Abusing Tamils

Sri Lanka Denies Accusations 1 of Abusing Tamils

The group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka says the photos show Balachandran Prabhakaran, the son of the late Tamil Tiger rebel leader, in the custody 2 of government soldiers in May 2009.

Another photo, which the journalists say was taken two hours later, appears to show the same 12-year-old boy lying dead on the ground with five bullet wounds in his chest.

The photos, and additional video footage, appear to contradict government accounts that the boy was killed in crossfire 3, says the head of Amnesty International India, G. Ananthapadmanabhan.

“We think they are credible 4 evidence that needs investigation 5, but we cannot exactly say at this point what exactly happened," said Ananthapadmanabhan. "But having said that, even the thought that a 12-year-old boy could be executed in that fashion is quite horrifying 6."

The alleged 7 killing 8 happened during fierce fighting as the civil war between the government and armed Tamil separatists known as the LTTE, was coming to an end.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner 9 to India Prasad Kariyawasam doubts the veracity 10 of the pictures.

"This footage for us is kind of morphed in a way that this series of photographs doesn't add up, so we totally reject this," said Kariyawasam. "We have no doubt that Prabhakaran's son died, but he was a victim of that battle at that time."

The group Human Rights Watch says abuses against Tamils took place long after the civil war - in many cases to extract information or to force confessions 11. Video footage taken by the group shows victims with scars across their backs. One of them, given the name "DK," says he was tortured in 2012.

“They beat me severely 12. They burned cigarettes on my back. I was sexually abused. They hanged me upside down and beat me. My body was full of bruises 13. They submerged my head in water," he said.

David Mepham is UK Director of Human Rights Watch.

“We’ve got 75 cases where we are very clear that the evidence is compelling and that these people were subject to rape 14 and sexual violence," said Mepham. "And overwhelmingly this is violence carried out by members of the Sri Lankan security forces.”

Sri Lanka says the allegations are fabricated by Tamils seeking asylum 15 overseas.

For the second year in a row, the United States is sponsoring a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling on Sri Lanka to cease what it calls rights abuses.

Sri Lanka's presidential envoy 16 on human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, claims the U.N. council is biased 17.

“We have put in place structures for discussion and implementation 18 of solutions," said Samarasinghe. "However, we are being told that our chosen path is perhaps the wrong one. It is supposedly deficient 19. We must be lectured to or even taught. We must be instructed by people who know little of our history, culture or socio-political background."

Sri Lanka is due to host the Commonwealth 20 summit in November this year. Canada has threatened to boycott 21 the meeting unless Colombo addresses the allegations of atrocities 22.