The New York based Human Rights Watch, HRW has called the Sri Lanka’s latest report on the Eelam war IV with the LTTE as the latest attempt to whitewash growing evidence of alleged government atrocities during the fighting. Two years after the war ended, the HRW said that the new Sri Lankan Defense Ministry report concedes for the first time that government forces caused civilian deaths in the final months of the conflict with the Tamil Tigers but takes no responsibility for laws-of-war violations. Criticizing the Report, HRW said that while it details the numerous abuses over the years by the Tamil Tigers, it provides no serious discussion of alleged war crimes by Sri Lankan forces, like frequent indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, causing thousands of civilian casualties and repeated shelling of hospitals by government forces.HRW also says that the report provides inadequate information on investigations by the Sri Lankan government into alleged war crimes by its forces. Asia director at Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams said, the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry report is yet another feeble attempt to convince the world, despite growing evidence to the contrary, that government forces committed no crimes in the conflict with the Tamil Tigers.A day after Sri Lankan government came out with a report on its three decades war against the LTTE titled ‘Humanitarian Operations, Factual Analysis, an international civil rights group called it as an official attempt to whitewash military abuses.Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said that ‘Concerned governments should use this factually challenged report to jump-start international accountability efforts as the UN Panel of Experts recommended.’Coming down heavily on the claims made by the Sri Lankan government of maintaining a zero civilian casualty, HRW said that the Report finally admits that its forces caused civilians losses during the conflict’s final months, but unconvincingly claims no responsibility.HRW also points out that while the atrocities of the LTTE are listed but it ignores the Sri Lankan military’s role in civilian deaths. It reiterated its call for an independent international investigation into violations of the laws of war by both sides to the conflict stating that the violations of the laws of war by the Tamil tigers did not justify abuses by government security forces.