New Sri Lanka war-crime evidence: judges

The Australian arm of an international group of judges says it has damning new photographic evidence of war crimes by the Sri Lankan army.

The president of the International Commission of Jurists' Australian chapter, John Dowd QC, announced on Wednesday that photographs had been mailed to him.

They contained evidence of execution and degradation of female victims as the bloody fighting to came an end in 2009 and had been sent by an Australian union official two weeks ago, he said.

Mr Dowd said he had sent the evidence to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

"(The evidence) deals with executions, it deals with such (things) as shooting through the forehead, ... it deals with the exposure of women's bodies, presumably after death, and it deals with other evidence showing Sri Lankan army officials and officers," he told reporters in Sydney.

"All members of the Commonwealth, if the Commonwealth is going to be taken notice of as a human rights body discussing human rights, should take this fact into account."

Mr Dowd said he had gone public with the material because he was concerned it would not be seen by Ms Gillard while the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was currently meeting in Perth.

He called on Ms Gillard - who on Tuesday said she was concerned about the persistent war crimes claims levelled against Sri Lanka - to raise the human rights abuses at CHOGM.

He also said Ms Gillard should push for Sri Lanka to be stripped of holding the 2013 CHOGM, adding that governments were responsible if the meeting went ahead.

He added that eleven days after CHOGM, the decision to hold the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane or Sri Lanka would be made - another "relevant human rights issue" for the PM.

Earlier on Wednesday, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd signalled the next Commonwealth leaders' meeting would go ahead in Sri Lanka, despite the concerns.

Details of the new evidence comes just a day after Attorney-General Robert McClelland quashed a court action filed by a Sri Lankan-born Australian man in Melbourne, which accused Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa of war crimes.

Mr Dowd also revealed he had been sent hate mail denying war crimes, sparked by his high profile campaign for the allegations to be investigated.

The International Court of Justice has already called on the AFP and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate the claims.