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Justice minister accuses UN Rapporteur of dictating to Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's justice minister, Wijedasa Rajapaksha rejected the statement made by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism on Friday, accusing him of dictating to the country. 

In a rebuke to Mr Emmerson criticism of the government's for failing to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act despite promising to do so, Sri Lanka's justice minister was quoted by Reuters as saying it needed more time to deal with the abuses. 

"He can't dictate like this, we can't make laws immediately. They have to go through parliament," Mr Rajapaksha told Reuters. "There is a process. He must understand what democracy is."

In a highly critical assessment of Sri Lanka's failure to make progress on accountability and justice, Ben Emmerson, who has just completed an official visit of the island, said "the Government has thus far done almost nothing to hold to account those members of the armed forces and security services who committed gross human rights violations during and since the conflict."

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