Colombo, March 20 (IANS): Protests were staged in Sri Lanka Thursday against a resolution sponsored by the US which has been submitted to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

Most shops and stores in Sri Lanka's eastern town of Trincomalee were shut during a general shutdown while public transport came to a standstill as a mark of protest, Xinhua reported.

The general shutdown in Trincomalee was organised by Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim groups in the area and hand bills were distributed calling for support, the police said, adding that security has been tightened in the area to ensure no unruly incidents took place.

The police also said that they were investigating an attack on a few passenger buses in the area which had operated at the time of the protest.

Meanwhile, in the capital Colombo, a group of people staged a protest march towards the US embassy and handed over a petition to the embassy against the US resolution.

Heavy traffic was seen in the area during the protest march organised by a group of people from the northern Mannar town, which ended peacefully.

The US resolution, which will be put to vote next week in Geneva, calls for an investigation into human rights abuses in Sri Lanka both during and after the war between Tamil Tiger rebels and government troops.