"UN must understand our problems, I understand the SG's"  

"De-mining won't take 16 years as in Croatia"  

"Journalist's offences include being agent of LTTE"  

"Sri Lanka is an equal member of the UN"  

"If big countries bully us we will bring it to the UN" 

                                                                          - President Rajapaksa 

Sri Lanka has a better story than is getting out to the world on matters of concern to the United Nations such as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Human rights and Post Conflict Development was the view of B. Lynn Pascoe, United Nations Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, following his meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa earlier today(Sep 18).

Intervention of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha,Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights in discussion of the Report of the Joint Inspection Unit  

Sri Lanka welcomes the Report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the requested follow up to the management review of the Office of the High Commissioner. The Report makes it clear that follow up has in fact been minimal. Recalling that the Review took place in 2003, one is reminded of Yeats’ Wild Swans at Coole, sailing complacently in their shining white plumage across yet another lake. This Council needs therefore to work swiftly and purposefully if another generation is not to see the same swans twenty years later.

The Government of Sri Lanka welcomes the media statement issued today (17) by Prof. Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, in which he now acknowledges that the report which was shared with him by the Government leads him to the conclusion that “the views expressed do indeed raise several issues which warrant further investigation before it could reasonably be concluded that the video is authentic”.

Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights addressed the Twelfth Session of the UN Human Rights Council, which began its 3-week long session today.  Hon. Minister was among the three high-level dignitaries who addressed the Council and his statement was followed by the statements made by H.E Ms. Esther Brimmer, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, and Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand.

The full statement of the Hon. Minister is as follows:

Statement by Attorney-General Mohan Peiris, P.C., of Sri Lanka at the 12^th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council during the General Debate on the update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights - 15 September 2009, Geneva

Mr. President and the distinguished members of the Human Rights Council, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, may I congratulate Madam High Commissioner on your 1^st anniversary of office, and thank the Council and the High Commissioner for the valuable guidance and support in the last year which has been a difficult one for Sri Lanka in which a fine and difficult balance had to be achieved between the maintenance of civil and political rights in the context of the maintenance of national security. Mr. President, I must and have to respond to some of the observations made by Madam High commissioner.

Statement of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights responding to Non-Governmental Organizations in the debate on the Statement of the High Commissioner for Human Rights  

Sri Lanka regrets the intemperate attacks by some Non-Governmental Organizations on a country trying hard to recover from decades of terrorist activity, which had to be resisted within our legal framework. This is a difficult task, as all those engaged in fighting terror know, and we are proud that our record of success is better than that of most.

Statement of Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights responding to the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict

Sri Lanka welcomes the statement of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, and registers again its gratitude that Ms Coomaraswamy made crystal clear, when other branches of the UN seemed to condone this, her condemnation of the LTTE for breaching national and international law in its recruitment of child soldiers.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an interview with Italy’s Le Figaro daily newspaper focusing on wide range of contemporary issues of the country emphasized that the Western bloc should stop criticizing the country over alleged human rights violations and should assist in its endeavor to rebuild the nation that is now entirely liberated from the grip of terrorism.

The resettlement of the internally displaced spearheaded by Special Presidential Adviser and MP, Basil Rajapaksa,Chairman of the Northern Task Force yesterday (11 September)  released 9900 internally displaced persons housed at the Menik Farm in Vavuniya to their hometowns, these IDPs were provided transport through state buses to reach their homes by the authorities.

Hon. Speaker,

As we all are aware having remained victims of terrorism for over 27 years, the people of Sri Lanka have just crossed over to a new epoch of peace and development. 

If encountering the brutal terror of a ruthless enemy in the military front required a great deal of commitment and dedication on the part of all those who were involved in it, from the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to the soldiers, facing the obstacles in the political front which surfaced in innumerable guises both locally and internationally required, by no small measure, sheer far-sightedness and resolve on the part of His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government. I need not emphasize how various forces tried, in vain, to stop the government in its march to victory. The story is long and now history, which is no secret to any of us, anymore.

Another batch of nearly 9,000 Internally Displaced Persons now living in the welfare villages of Vavunia will be resettled in their own villages in the North and East today, senior official sources told the Daily News yesterday. 

Buses to take the IDPs back to their villages have been arranged by the Rehabilitation and Disaster Relief Ministry with lunch and dinner provided by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

The attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is drawn to several recent media reports alleging that Sri Lankan leaders and senior government officials have been denied visas by some of the Diplomatic Missions in Colombo.

The Hony Consul General for Sri Lanka in Madrid has informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka of a fraudulent scheme that offers lucrative jobs for foreigners including Sri Lankans in Spain. Part of the fraud is collecting purported legal fees for expediting the visa. According to the Hony Consul General for Sri Lanka in Madrid, this is a racket which is operated through mobile phones making it extremely difficult for the Spanish police to nab them.

Hosting the Ifthar (breaking fast) for the 3^rd consecutive year, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama stated that he began the tradition of hosting Ifthar during the holy month of Ramadhan following his appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also stated that this tradition of celebrating important festivals and observances associated with the four major religions practised in Sri Lanka will continue.

The Foreign Ministry has so far made payments in compensation totalling Rs. 140 million to next of kin (NOK) of affected families during the year 2009.  Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama made this observation at a ceremony held at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations & Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) on 07 September 2009 when he handed over compensations among the next of kin of those Sri Lankan nationals who had passed away under tragic circumstances in the Middle East.

At the request of Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Saudi Arabian Embassy has issued free visas to 100 Sri Lankan Muslims proceeding on Umrah pilgrimage during the month of Ramazan for the first time.

Press Release issued by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights

Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe met with the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon on Thursday 3 September at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on the sidelines of the World Climate Conference.   

Referring to the comments made by the UN Secretary-General’s Spokeswoman Ms. Marie Okabe in the UN press release dated 3 September 2009, Minister Samarasinghe stated that he took the opportunity to brief the UNSG on a wide variety of issues concerning IDPs as well as plans of the Government to resettle them as soon as possible. Minister Samarasinghe reiterated the commitment of H.E the President to care for the IDPs and to re-settle them as soon as the de-mining process is completed and infrastructure and basic services are restored.