Human Right Watch (HRW), an international nongovernmental organization focused on human rights on Sunday (17) slammed Sri Lanka government for appointing Maj. Gen Jagath Dias as the new Army Chief of Staff.

“Sri Lanka’s promotion of a senior officer whose division was implicated in serious human rights abuses casts doubt on government pledges to credibly investigate alleged war crimes,” HRW stated.

New government has promised genuine accountability for wartime abuses, HRW Asia Director Brad Adams stressed. But naming the general of ‘an abusive unit’ the army chief of staff is a slap in the face for victims, he added.

“Members of the UN Human Rights Council expecting genuine accountability in Sri Lanka need to closely scrutinize the government’s actions.”  Adams asserted.

He further said that the appointment of Gen. Dias was a proof that Sri Lanka needs an independent justice process with a strong international component.

Maj. Gen. Jagath Dias, who led the Army’s 57th Division during the last two years of war, was appointed as the new Army Chief of Staff, Ministry of Defense announced May 14.