UNHRC delegation arriving tomorrow

A delegation from the United Nations Human Rights Council will arrive in Sri Lanka on Friday, Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L Peiris has said.

A technical team from the UNHRC office in Geneva on the advice of HR High Commissioner Navi Pillay will arrive in the country on 14 September, External Affairs Ministry officials have said.

The Minister at a press briefing today said that at first a delegation representing the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay would visit the island prior to her visit.

Sri Lanka is preparing groundwork to welcome the team led by Pillay to witness the progress of the resettlement programs.

Pillay, who has been very critical of Sri Lanka’s human rights situation and insisted on an international investigation into Sri Lanka’s war, has now agreed to visit Sri Lanka.

The Minister added that this visit will be an ideal opportunity for the country to show its progress achieved on securing human rights to the international community.

The team is expected to visit the war-torn north and east to get a firsthand look at the Government’s resettlement programs and the displaced persons still remaining at the camps and other issues.