HR agencies to be informed of controversial statement

by Ananda Kannangara

The controversial statement issued by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) over certain cases of disappearances in the country will be brought to the attention of international human rights agencies by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, next week.

This was revealed by Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe a few hours prior to his departure to Geneva to attend the International Human Rights Commission Conference.

The conference will be held in Geneva from September 11 to 24. Human rights activists including parliamentarians in about 160 countries will take part in the conference to share their views over the cases of disappearances in their respective countries.

The Minister will be accompanied by Solicitor General, C. R. de Silva, Deputy Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda, CID Director Nimal Kulatunga and Rajiv Wijesinghe, head of the Peace Secretariat.

During the discussions with the world human rights activists, Minister Samarasinghe is expected to forward a detailed report, issued by the International Red Cross Organisation, that a 50 percent drop of human rights violations was reported from Sri Lanka during the past several months.

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