The Sri Lankan government has accused the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay of seeking to influence the OHCHR Investigation in Sri Lanka (OISL).
In a statement released on Thursday, the External Affairs Ministry said it “regretted” comments made by the High Commissioner earlier this week, saying that the access to Sri Lanka was not necessary for the investigation to be credible.
“The High Commissioner who is scheduled to leave office at the end of this month making public pronouncements to the media on an investigation which has commenced only recently is a clear indication of personal bias. It is evidence of an attempt to influence the investigation process and make it follow a preconceived trajectory,” the statement said.
Sri Lanka criticised the “prejudiced” High Commissioner for attempting to create a “distorted impression" of Sri Lanka.
“By comparing in her comments, the situation in Sri Lanka with those elsewhere, that too situations of emergency, the High Commissioner attempts to create a distorted impression of the position in Sri Lanka. Ignoring completely, the socio-economic and infrastructural developments that have taken place since the conclusion of the conflict, the High Commissioner continues to invite the attention of the international community to Sri Lanka where there is no human rights or humanitarian emergency which merits such consideration, intrusive action or relentless pursuit.”
The statement further accuses Ms Pillay of paying “scant regard to the ongoing delicate process of reconciliation in Sri Lanka”, whilst advocating “retributive justice and coercive processes ‘as an avenue to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation’ which in fact would only serve to destabilize the intricate balance of the process of national reconciliation and militate against stability and peace in the country.”
The government however expressed “confidence” that the new High Commissioner, PrinceZeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, “would be guided at all times by the principles of objectivity, impartiality, non-selectivity and equal treatment while respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity and domestic jurisdiction of States in carrying out his mandate and in guiding the work of the OHCHR”.
See full statement here.