Sri Lanka's government must "confront and defeat the demons of the past" and accelerate the return of the Tamil lands to their rightful owners, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said here on Tuesday.
"Sri Lanka must confront and defeat the demons of its past. It must create institutions that work, and ensure accountability," he told reporters at the end of his four-day visit during which he also travelled to war-torn Northern Province.
In Northern Province, Hussein met Tamil leaders and promised them to raise with Sri Lankan leadership the issue of over 4,000 civilians reported missing during the civil war.
According to UN figures, up to 100,000 people were killed in the civil war. Hundreds of people are still missing. Hussein, on his first visit to Sri Lanka after succeeding Navi Pillay as UN rights chief to review measures taken by the government to investigate alleged war abuses during the war, said, "Sri Lanka needs a through, frank and honest discussion of the findings of the UN report."
In the hard-hitting report submitted by him at the UNHRC last September, Hussein had criticised Sri Lanka's failure to deliver justice to the victims of the 26-year conflict.