UN team can come but can’t give advice: Keheliya

By Uditha Jayasinghe

The Government has confirmed that a United Nations (UN) team will visit the country next month to evaluate post-war reconciliation, but insisted that their feedback would not be considered, an official said here yesterday.

Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella on Thursday strongly responded to previous media reports that the UN team would provide expertise on reconciliation efforts made by the Government.

He insisted that the team was coming on a Government invitation but that they would only be observers and not act as advisors.

“We have invited any interested party to come to Sri Lanka and see for themselves the progress that has been made over the past three years. This latest visit is simply part of that process and is not a contradiction to the Government’s previous stance,” he said.

Rambukwella on previous occasions had voiced the Government stand point that no foreign teams would be allowed into the country to conduct evaluations as it would be in contravention of Sri Lanka’s sovereign rights. It was earlier reported that experts from the UN Human Rights Council would arrive to “offer advice and technical assistance” to the Government towards implementing the US-backed resolution on Sri Lanka that was passed in March.   One of the three main elements in the resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council called upon Sri Lanka to formulate a “comprehensive action plan” as “expeditiously as possible”.

Another called upon the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant special procedures mandate holders to provide, in consultation with, and with the concurrence of, the Government of Sri Lanka, advice and technical assistance on implementing the provisions of the resolution.