The Sri Lankan government has received a copy of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) report examining mass killings of Tamil civilians during the end of the island’s armed conflict, reports The Hindu.
Quoting Sri Lankan foreign ministry officials, it reported that the government received a copy of the report on Friday night. It further added Sri Lanka has five days to make its response in writing.
Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, will address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on the opening day of the 30th session on Monday. Mr Mangala Samaraweera and the Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne have departed for Geneva said Harsha de Silva, the Deputy Foreign Minister.
The report was initially scheduled to be released in March, but was postponed until September.
At the time of the delay, which the Sri Lankan government celebrated as a diplomatic success, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein spoke directly to the victims and gave his “personal, absolute and unshakable commitment that the report will be published by September."
“I want this report to have the maximum possible impact in ensuring a genuine and credible process of accountability and reconciliation in which the rights of victims to truth, justice and reparations are finally respected,” he had said.
See more of his comments here.
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