Sri Lanka Becoming more Authoritarian, Says U.N. Rights Chief

U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay on Saturday accused Sri Lanka of becoming "increasingly authoritarian" with activists facing growing military harassment four years after the end of a civil war.

Pillay charged that military officials were harassing and intimidating priests, journalists and other civilians as punishment for meeting her during a fact-finding trip to the island to probe allegations of war crimes.

"I am deeply concerned that Sri Lanka... is showing signs of heading in an increasingly authoritarian direction," the U.N. high commissioner for human rights told reporters at the end of her first week-long mission to the country.

"You don't invite a person like me (to the country) and then do this type of thing. This type of surveillance and harassment appears to be getting worse in Sri Lanka, which is a country where critical voices are quite often attacked or even permanently silenced," she said.

Pillay's mission took her to the former war zones of the country's north and east to meet relatives of those who disappeared during the decades-long conflict that ended in 2009.

Sri Lanka has resisted demands from the U.N. and Western nations for a "credible" investigation into allegations that up to 40,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the separatist war.

Colombo had dropped its public hostility towards Pillay and approved her visit after previously accusing her of overstepping her mandate.

The U-turn came as Canada led calls for a boycott of a Commonwealth summit due to take place in Colombo later this year.

But relations appeared to have deteriorated during the trip with President Mahinda Rajapakse accusing the U.N. of bias and Pillay of pre-judging Sri Lanka during talks between the two on Friday.

Pillay on Saturday told Rajapakse's government that the U.N. considers reprisals against civilians an "extremely serious matter".

She said she had never come across such intimidation of civilians after they had spoken with U.N. officials, despite carrying out missions in more than 60 countries.

"I wish to stress the United Nations takes the issue of reprisals against people because they have talked to U.N. officials as an extremely serious matter and I will be reporting those that take place in connection with this visit to the Human Rights Council," she said.

Pillay is expected to present her findings to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which passed a resolution in March pressing Sri Lanka to more thoroughly investigate alleged war crimes.

A no-holds-barred military offensive crushed Tamil Tiger rebels who at the height of their power controlled one-third of Sri Lanka's territory.

Rajapakse's government has since been dogged by claims of indiscriminate killing of ethnic minority Tamils.

Pillay warned that the country could slip back into conflict unless rights issues were addressed.

"There are a number of specific factors impeding normalization which -- if not quickly rectified -- may sow the seeds of future discord," she said.

"These are by and large to do with the curtailment or denial of personal freedoms and human rights, or linked to persistent impunity and the failure of rule of law."

She also urged the government to speed up de-militarization of the former war zones.

"I was concerned to hear about the degree to which the military appears to be putting down roots and becoming involved in what should be civilian activities -- for instance education, agriculture and even tourism," she said.

She repeated calls for a "credible" investigation into the final days of the island's ethnic war and ensure accountability.