(UDHAYAM, COLOMBO) – The government has stated that at the current 34th session of the United Nations Human Right Council in Geneva it will undertake a two-year extension of the timeline for fulfilment of commitments made in consensual Resolution 30/1 adopted in October 2015.
The government clarified there will be no additional or new commitments arising from the report presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein at the current 34th Session.
Issuing a statement in response to a ‘misleading’ news report that misquoted Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Harsha de Silva, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the UNHRC adopted the Resolution 30/1 cosponsored by Sri Lanka due to the responsible manner in which the Unity Government had embarked on handling matters pertaining to reconciliation, accountability, human rights, rule of law and governance.
The statement said the adoption of the Resolution 30/1 on 1 October 2015 clearly placed the Government of Sri Lanka in-charge of handling matters pertaining to these areas, and thus shifting all action to the domestic realm.
The Ministry said following the Presidential Election on the 8th of January 2015, the national unity government under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, took steps to take ownership of reconciliation, rule of law, accountability, human rights and governance issues.
