Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, To begin with, I feel so honoured and privileged to be in this wonderful capital and largest city of Switzerland on behalf of my delegation. It is a great pleasure for me to address the 148th IPU Assembly...
Sri Lanka is deeply troubled about the death of over hundred people who were waiting to receive aid in Gaza and joins the call for investigation into the incident. The latest incident underscores the immediate need to end the blockade imposed on Gaza,...
Attending the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024 in Davos, Switzerland at the invitation of its Founder and Chairman Prof. Klaus Schwab, President Ranil Wickremesinghe interacted with world...
Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions 11 – 14 September 2023 Statement by Sri Lanka Agenda Item 8: General Exchange of Views Thank you Mr. President, Sri Lanka joins...
General Intervention by H.E. Himalee Arunatilaka, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, on 28 August 2023 Mr. Chair, Sri Lanka compliments the work accomplished...
Intervention by Dr. Samiddhi Samarakoon, National Coordinator, Disaster Preparedness and Response Division of the Ministry of Health on National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens (NIDP) Thank you...
Intervention by Dr. Samiddhi Samarakoon, National Coordinator, Disaster Preparedness and Response Division of the Ministry of Health on the Implementation of Biological Weapons Convention Plan in...
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Speaking at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, 10th June, during the consideration of Russia’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report, Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka made the following statement:
Sri Lanka welcomes the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation and applauds his remarks here today. We also applaud the role played by the distinguished Ambassador of Russia, His Excellency Valery Loshchinin, in the Human Rights Council, in its institution/building package, in the UPR process and the Durban Review conference.
Mr. President, Sri Lanka recognizes fully well that this discussion on Human Rights - these institutions - none of this would have been possible, if not for the sacrifices made by Russia and the Russian People.
Mr. President, the overwhelming burden of the fight against Nazi fascism fell to Russia. The greatest sacrifices in human terms were those made by the Russian people and the Russian armed forces. If not for the role played by Russia in breaking the backbone of fascism, the rest of the world would have found that our discussion, our discourse and our institutions promoting Human Rights would have been postponed by many decades and a dark age would have fallen on the world.
So we recognize this sterling contribution of Russia. We also recognize the difficulties the Russia has faced: centuries of the Czarism, decades of totalitarianism, two World Wars, a civil war that was forced on Russia and a period of economic collapse in the nineties from which Russia has proudly emerged. We note that the struggle for Human Rights takes place against this historic background. And from the responses of Russia contained in the UPR report and its responses today, Sri Lanka applauds the fact that Russia has found a way of safeguarding Human rights, strengthening the individual, strengthening society, while not weakening either the state or the nation.
Thank you.
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