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

（单词翻译）

Sri Lanka Denies Accusations¹ 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 custody² 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 crossfire³, says the head of Amnesty International India, G. Ananthapadmanabhan.

“We think they are credible⁴ evidence that needs investigation⁵, 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 horrifying⁶."

The alleged⁷ killing⁸ 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 Commissioner⁹ to India Prasad Kariyawasam doubts the veracity¹⁰ 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 confessions¹¹. 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 severely¹². They burned cigarettes on my back. I was sexually abused. They hanged me upside down and beat me. My body was full of bruises¹³. 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 rape¹⁴ 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 asylum¹⁵ 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 envoy¹⁶ on human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, claims the U.N. council is biased¹⁷.

“We have put in place structures for discussion and implementation¹⁸ of solutions," said Samarasinghe. "However, we are being told that our chosen path is perhaps the wrong one. It is supposedly deficient¹⁹. 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 Commonwealth²⁰ summit in November this year. Canada has threatened to boycott²¹ the meeting unless Colombo addresses the allegations of atrocities²².