A day after Sri Lankan security forces shot dead three Tamil men, who they allege were attempting to re-launch an armed struggle, the country's special envoy for human rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe, claimed the incident was "clear evidence" of the need for military in the North.
According to the PTI Minister Samarasinghe told Buddhist monks in Kandy on Saturday,
"We were asked and criticised about the presence of the military in the north and the need to scale down its presence by the international governments at the Geneva UN Human Rights Council...We explained to them the need to keep the military going as it was a decision for a sovereign government to take in view of the national security needs,"
"Yesterday's incident was clear evidence of that," he added.
Echoing comments made by the Minister of External Affairs, G.L. Peiris, Minister Samarasinghe said that the Sri Lanka would not cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council in its attempt to set up an international investigation.
"We will not participate as we have no confidence in such a process. We are a government which is committed to achieving reconciliation through credible local mechanisms," Samarasinghe said.
Sri Lanka 'would not give into attempts by the pro-LTTE diaspora to destabilise the country', he added.
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