Sri Lanka has rejected a request by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression to visit the island, reported ColomboPage.
The rejection comes as Sri Lanka faces a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council, where a draft resolution "urges the Government of Sri Lanka to cooperate with special procedures mandate holders and formally respond to outstanding requests, including by providing unfettered access to the Special
Rapporteurs".
Sri Lanka's reason behind the rejection for an official was reportedly due to the belief that the mandate granted to the Special Rapporteur under the resolution passed at the March 2012 UN Human Rights Council session had expired.
Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha, was reported to have said,
"I hereby wish to inform you that your previous requests to visit Sri Lanka were transmitted to the relevant authorities for processing. However, with regard to your latest request to undertake an official visit to Sri Lanka, in the context of the mandate granted to you by the resolution 19/2 should have been made, as per due process, either immediately after the adoption of the resolution 19/2 in March 2012 or within a reasonable timeframe thereafter".