Human rights missions only by invitation

Ranil Wijayapala and Rafik Jalaldeen

COLOMBO: Any mechanism to monitor the human rights situation in the country will be allowed only by invitation, not by force, Government Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said yesterday.

“We will protest any form of force to set up a mission to monitor the human rights situation unless by invitation,” the Minister said.

Addressing the weekly security press briefing yesterday, Rambukwella said Sri Lanka as a sovereign state cannot allow any force to challenge its sovereignty through the forcible setting up missions here to monitor the human rights situation.

“It should be done only by invitation not by force,” Rambukwella said.

The Minister said the Sri Lankan delegation headed by Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and the Attorney General is making representations at the ongoing UN sessions on Human Rights.

“Sri Lanka has already invited for two UN representatives to visit Sri Lanka and monitor the human rights situation in the country,” the Minister said.

“We have taken all steps to maintain transparency in the process of inquiring into alleged human rights violations by appointing a Special Presidential Commission and a panel of eminent international figures to observe these inquiry process,” the Minister added.

Apart from this, the Government has also taken steps to set up a Victim and Witness Assistance and Protection Unit to make sure and ensure the safety of the people subjected to human rights violations.Rambukwella said the Government has made representations at the UN sessions to prove that it was doing its best to maintain a good human rights situation in the country and develop mechanisms to improve the situation having given consideration to the conflict the country had undergone.

“As a Government we have nothing to hide. We want to remove the mythical thinking of some segment of the international community about the human rights situation in the county,” the Minister added.