Sri Lanka delegation begins preparations for onslaught at UNHCR

The Sri Lankan ministerial delegation attending the 19th sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council beginning later this month has left for Geneva, Switzerland yesterday.

The ministerial delegation led by the External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris includes Plantation Minister and President’s Special Human Rights Envoy Mahinda Samarasinghe, Ministers Nimal Siripala De Silva and Anura Priyadarshana Yapa.

Sri Lanka is preparing to face a resolution that is to be presented against the country at the UNHRC sessions scheduled to begin on February 27 and the high level delegation is ready to face any challenges at the sessions, the government has said.

The resolution to be presented at the UNHRC notes that Sri Lanka has failed to implement the reconciliation measures recommended by the country’s own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and calls for Sri Lanka to take more concrete actions towards reconciliation and especially, addressing the accountability issue and implementing the recommendations put forward by the LLRC.

The United States has said that it will support the resolution to pressure the Sri Lankan government to take prompt measures to implement the LLRC recommendations and address the accountability issues.

Sri Lanka says it needs more time to implement the LLRC recommendations as it has been only two months since the LLRC report was released to the parliament on December 16, 2011.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary Karunatilaka Amunugama has said in an interview to the state-run Sunday Observer that the government has extensively explained to the International Community what has happened during the humanitarian operations, post war development, rehabilitation process of LTTE combatants and reconstruction.

“No country has been able to implement a set of recommendations within two months. We are a democratic country. We have to discuss and consult the parties concerned on how best we could implement these recommendations,” he has said.

Many of the international delegations visited the country have commended the government for its post-war development and rehabilitation in the conflict-affected areas, Amunugama has said.

He has said that Sri Lanka is confident that it will have the support of the positive thinking block of International community against the adverse resolution at the UNHRC.

Minister Samarasinghe has said Sri Lanka will not present the LLRC report but will address the UNHRC sessions to report on the progress made in the human rights and reconciliation fronts and respond to any questions raised by the international community on the LLRC report.

The members of the Sri Lankan delegation prepare to separately engage in a dialogue with members of the foreign diplomatic community during the period of the sessions in Geneva.  (Colombo Page)

They are scheduled to meet representatives of other countries participating in the sessions to hold discussions, especially with the representatives of Sri Lanka’s friendly countries such as China, Cuba and Russia during the next few days.