Sri Lanka rejects inference that the presence of the military contributes to the insecurity of women and girls in the former conflict-affected areas
The Sri Lankan Government has strongly rejected allegations raised by Canada which said that the presence of the military contributes to the insecurity of women and girls in the former conflict-affected areas.
Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Manisha Gunaratne revealed this at the 26th session of the Council.
She said Sri Lanka strongly rejected Canada’s claim that the presence of the military contributes to the insecurity of women and girls in the former conflict-affected areas.
Exercising a ‘Right of Reply’ with regard to the statement made by Canada during the General Debate, Sri Lanka said this claim is not substantiated by verifiable data or evidence.
Delivering the ‘Right of Reply’ Sri Lanka said the government has a well-established, zero tolerance policy on sexual and gender based violence against women, and continues to take strong action against reported cases of violence against women.
It was pointed out to the Council that the involvement of security forces personnel as a percentage of the total incidents of sexual violence is low, both in the conflict and the post-conflict periods.
Sri Lanka further said the Sri Lankan military continues to provide large-scale human rights training to its personnel with the assistance of the ICRC.
Sri Lanka requested Canada to refrain from making “irresponsible, unsubstantiated claims driven by diaspora imperatives which is not helpful to the process of bringing about genuine reconciliation among communities in the aftermath of such a grievous and long-drawn conflict.
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