Sri Lanka government has not agreed to set up an Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Sri Lanka, Deputy Minister of Power and Renewable Energy Ajith P. Perera, addressing the weekly Cabinet briefing at the Department of Government Information on Wednesday (March 15) said the government rejects calls for such a move by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). “This has been suggested for a time now but the government has not agreed to it”, explained the Deputy Minister. “The government received wide approval for its call for a Technical Rollover of Resolution 30/1 which gave it two more years to implement the Resolution adopted in October 2015,” he said. “The international community is with us and they understand our situation. And we believe that our ministries, police, courts and Attorney General’s department can act independently in this matter. Where we have faults, we will seek technical assistance from international agencies but we don’t need an office here”, explained Deputy Minister Perera. “The TNA in a statement released to the media in the meantime has also insisted that, “all obligations in terms of the UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 of October 1, 2015 co-sponsored by the Sri Lanka Government must be fully implemented”. Perera however observed that while the TNA has been progressive on many fronts, they would always have their own politics and this was to be expected.
