External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris has said that pressure exerted by the United Nations Human Rights Council and certain international forces are a serious obstacle to the country’s reconciliation process. The Minister has made this comment to UN Human Rights Chief Navaneethan Pillay.
Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris and the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navaneethen Pillay had a meeting in Geneva yesterday. During the discussion, Minister Peiris emphasized that the highly prejudiced actions taken by a few countries and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to give disproportionate negative attention to Sri Lanka, has made the separatist Tamil elements in Sri Lanka and abroad more intransigent, making the intensely difficult task of reconciliation in Sri Lanka, even harder. He said it was unfortunate that Sri Lanka has become a “political football” in the electoral fortunes in some countries.
The Sri Lankan Government was successfully implementing a programme to build reconciliation among communities after ending 30 years of terrorism. What the international community should do is to support this programme rather than obstructing it. The External Affairs Minister pointed out that Sri Lanka has already directed its dire attention on resettlement and the development targets that should be achieved and it was well aware of it. Not a single State Leader had conducted a poll for the Northern Province throughout 26 years. But President Rajapaksa took the initiative of holding polls for the Northern Provincial Council in September last year. Everyone was aware of it.
The Minister told the UN Human Rights Chief that it is pathetic to note that the report submitted by her was unilateral and politicized. She visited the island only after two years since the invitation was extended to her. But Minister Prof. Peiris emphasized to Navaneethen Pillay that she has focused less attention on the resettlement and development that has taken place in Sri Lanka. A group including Sri Lanka Permanent Resident Representative in Geneva Ravinatha Ariyasinghe was present at this meeting.
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