Lanka will react firmly to unwarranted statements

Sri Lanka will respond quite firmly to any unwarranted statements coming from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as such statements could lead to ethnic tensions, Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told the Sunday Observer. Minister Samarasinghe said Sri Lanka was willing to discuss with High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay about the subjective and biased statements she had made but if there is no satisfactory response, the Government would have to seek other measures for redress at international level.

The Minister said the appointment of a committee to study the Report submitted to the US Congress showed the Government’s commitment to human rights, even though the State Department itself had clearly stated that there is no legal foundation for the Report.

“This is the way a democratic nation acts. The President took the right decision. Otherwise we could have hidden behind the fact that there is no legal foundation to this report.”