Sri Lanka has approved a bill for the protection of victims and witnesses of crimes, seen as reflection of the new government's will to implement reforms.

Fulfilling a long-held international demand for justice and human rights accountability in the country, the law is believed to encourage more witnesses to speak up -- an important requirement to end the culture of impunity.

The law provides for compensation to witnesses cooperating with investigations and punitive action against those who would harass victims or witnesses to a crime.

Sri Lanka faced US-backed UN Human Rights Council resolutions on rights accountability for three consecutive years since 2012. The 2014 resolution mandated the setting up of an international investigation into alleged human rights abuses during the last phase of the nearly three decade-long civil war that wiped out the LTTE leadership.