Sri Lanka has won back international community - Minister Samarasinghe

by Manjula Fernando

Sri Lanka has succeeded in winning back the international community and this was clearly shown by the way the country was treated at the recent UN Human Rights Council sessions, said Skills Development Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.

The Minister said the reference to Sri Lanka in the opening statement by Human Rights High Commissioner Prince Zeid Al-Hussein, where he said the country was on its "own journey towards accountability, reconciliation and durable peace," was encouraging and marks a clear shift from the previous positions it maintained.

Authoritative sources at the Foreign Ministry said Sri Lanka's domestic reconciliation was progressing and the deadline for the public consultation may have to be extended. The six-month deadline to cover the public consultations will end in April.

"The seven-member task force has already started web-based consultations but face to face consultations will take a little longer," the sources said, adding, that Sri Lanka as a nation, had to address the remaining accountability issues and therefore, the on-going process was not at all a way of bending to international pressure.

"It is incorrect to say we are starting all these processes due to international pressure," the sources said.

"This commitment prompted us to co-sponsor the September resolution. The pledges given in President Maithripala Sirisena's manifesto on accountability and human rights were outlined in the joint resolution," the sources said.The resolution of the remaining issues will be based solely on public consultations and there is no will on the part of the government to saddle people with superficial solutions.

He added the Task Force will look into the grievances of all communities during the consultation because the government had understood 'fulfilling public aspirations is key to any durable solution'.