Solheim says Sri Lanka’s denial would increase focus on HR issues
- Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Former Norwegian Minister and Peace Envoy to Sri Lanka Erik Solheim has said that the continuous denial by the Sri Lankan government on human rights issues would increase the focus on such issues by other forces.
Solheim has made this comment in response to a Colombo Gazette tweet quoting Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella who had said that the government had not committed human rights violations during or after the war.
Rambukwella had said that the government maintained a “zero civilian casualty” policy during the war but admitted there may have been some isolated incidents and also questioned why there is focus on the last stages of the war and not the full 30 years of the conflict.
Rambukwella had said that the government maintained a “zero civilian casualty” policy during the war but admitted there may have been some isolated incidents and also questioned why there is focus on the last stages of the war and not the full 30 years of the conflict.
Solheim, who now chairs the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has said that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s admission that the UN had failed in Sri Lanka during the final stages of the war was nearly unprecedented.
He has observed that it is now time for all to come together to restore democracy and establish the rights of the Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka.
