The head of Amnesty International has personally urged Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to get behind calls for an independent international investigation into Sri Lankan war crimes.

Amnesty secretary-general Salil Shetty told Mr Rudd during a meeting in Canberra on Tuesday that the Sri Lankan government's own inquiry into the country's civil war was a sham.

"We know what it's going to say because we know that the process was deeply flawed," Mr Shetty told AAP shortly after his meeting with Mr Rudd.

"We've waited long enough. The time is right to call for an independent investigation."

Mr Shetty said Mr Rudd appeared receptive to the idea.