Government keen on initiating a credible domestic inquiry
Friday, 20th February 2015
By Chaminda Perera
Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith P Perera yesterday said that the UN Human Rights Commission has deferred the report on Sri Lanka by six months with the intention of giving more time to Sri Lanka to resolve the issues with regard to accountability and reconciliation within the country.
“The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner has specifically informed us that six months is granted to Sri Lanka with the objective of solving issues on accountability and reconciliation domestically,” he said. The Deputy Minister while attributing the decision of the UN Human Rights Commissioner to a diplomatic victory, said that the international community should be convinced that issues with regard to accountability and reconciliation can be solved domestically.
“We should improve the situation in Sri Lanka within the next six months to ensure that the country is capable of solving the issues with regard to reconciliation and accountability within the country.
The Deputy Minister added that several pieces of legislation will be brought to strengthen the law to ensure that issues with regard to the unfortunate incidents that took place during the war on terrorism can be investigated domestically in an open manner.
He said that serious incidents that had taken place during the war will be looked into through a proper legal procedure. “Such incidents will be referred to a court of law for remedial action, ” he said.
Perera added that the country’s judicial system will be strengthened further within this period. “The Victim and Witness Protection Bill which was drafted over 7 years ago, is to be passed in Parliament today. The previous government did not take any steps to adopt this Bill”, he said
The Deputy Minister added that the people in the country are protected by this piece of legislation and it gives a message to the international community that the rule the of law prevails in Sri Lanjka Perera said the government succeeded in securing the deferment of the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s report on Sri Lanka by six month dashing the expectation of the LTTE rump .
“What the LTTE rump was conspiring was to push the country being hauled towards an international tribunal based on the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s report on Sri Lanka which was scheduled to be released in March. The Deputy Minister added that the country could have faced serious problems, if this report had been released by the UNHRC.
He said that the incumbent government will not take the international community for a ride unlike the previous government and these issues will be solved in an open manner.
Perera said that his government will strengthen international relations for the betterment of the country and reach a logical conclusion on the accountability and reconciliation issues.
The foreign policy of the incumbent government is entirely based on true friendship and equality with no alignments . The Deputy Perera noted that the country’s foreign policy will no longer be based on petty domestic political objectives.
From :
