Sri Lanka to probe ethnic violence

A South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sri Lanka has begun looking into ethnic violence against the Tamil minority.

It says it wants to hear from Tamils who experienced physical attacks or intimidation during the early 1980s when, it says, human rights violations were at their worst.

The Commission is a quasi-judicial body which has no powers of prosecution.

The BBC Colombo correspondent says its main problem will be convincing witnesses to come forward.

She says Tamil human rights activists are sceptical about the Commission's independence and believe it's too early for such an enquiry when war in Sri Lanka is still going on.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service