 Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera addressing reporters after meeting US official Nisha Biswal today. |
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said the government was implementing “independent domestic mechanisms” to address human rights violations on the island, after meeting with senior US officials earlier today.
After discussions with Nisha Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia and Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour of the US State Department, Mr Samaraweera said he “outlined measures being taken to address concerns regarding alleged human rights violations including through independent domestic mechanisms”.
“We discussed steps being taken by the Government of President Maithripala Sirisena to promote reconciliation and to strengthening the rule of law as part of our Government’s overall objective of ensuring good governance, respect for human rights and strengthening our economy,” added the foreign minister.
Later today, Assistant Secretary Biswal will meet with Sri Lankan President Sirisena and on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Her visit comes as Sri Lankan media reported president Sirisena is to receive a copy of a United Nations report into mass atrocities committed during the final stages of the armed conflict, which saw tens of thousands of Tamil civilians killed, timed to coincide with the visit.
The Tamil National Alliance which swept polls in the Tamil North-East last week's general elections, has called for an international investigation into the massacres.