Friday, 30 August 2013 03:16
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Reuters: A Sri Lankan minister on Thursday accused UN Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, assessing the country four years after the end of a brutal civil war, of acting without transparency and said her report will be unfair.
Amid protests for and against a seven-day visit to assess human rights, Pillay visited former Northern war zones in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and the Eastern district of Trincomalee.
Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa, the leader of the National Freedom Front, a hard-line nationalist political party in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition, criticised her itinerary.
“There is a problem on whether she is working with transparency,” Weerawansa told reporters in Colombo. “In Trincomalee yesterday, she secretly met some people, who were not in the normal schedule. She is also scheduled to meet some people who are critical of the country. So our view is that she is not going to submit a fair report (to the UN).”
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Pillay had freedom to meet whomever she chose during her visit which ended on Wednesday. Pillay’s visit followed a second US-sponsored UN resolution in March this year that urged Sri Lanka to carry out credible investigations into killings and disappearances during the war, especially in the final stages.
