VIDEO: Anyone with a working pair of eyes can see the progress made - Samarasinghe
August 29, 2013 04:06 pm
There are challenges ahead
of us but within the last four years considerable progress has been made and we
are committed to overcoming the remaining challenges, Minister Mahinda
Samarasinghe stated following a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human
Right Navanethem Pillay.
Following the meeting at the Plantation Ministry today
(August 29), he told the media that they discussed several matters including the
universal periodic review, explaining that this was the second cycle that Sri Lanka
had gone through while the third cycle will commence around 2017.
The Minister, who also serves as the President’s
Special Envoy on Human Rights, stated that during this cycle the government has
undertaken and accepted a number of recommendations and well as put forward
several voluntary pledges that it is committed to implementing.
Samarasinghe
had also informed Pillay that around 50 government agencies and Ministries are
working together on the implementation of the Human Rights action plan, adding
that the government has received progress reports from up to 75% of the relevant
agencies and Ministries.
He
also stated that he intends to inform the UNHRC of the progress that the
country had made so far in terms of implementing the action plan and believes
that it is important to keep international friends informed of the country’s efforts.
The
Minister also referred to cases of organized agendas being carried out in view
of the Pillay’s visits to the North and East stating that Sri Lanka was a
democratic country and they had the right to express their opinions and carry
out their agendas.
However,
he added that the public is aware that the government does not demonstrate any
flexibility with the nation’s security.
Referring
to Pillay’s visits to the North, Samarasinghe said that although all the challenges
have not been met, anyone with a working pair of eyes can see the progress that
has been made in terms of development in those areas.
