US State Department Undersecretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland is due to visit Sri Lanka on 22 March to hold a range of high-level discussions, including with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The Morning learnt that Nuland, along with another US State Department official, will be in Sri Lanka for a three-day visit from 22 March. She is due to meet the President, Prime Minister (PM) Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris.
Furthermore, she is also due to hold discussions with Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Leader R. Sampanthan.
On 7 March, at the interactive dialogue of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session, the US called upon the Government of Sri Lanka to engage with Tamil and Muslim political parties and civil society organisations in order to advance an inclusive and lasting political solution. The US further noted that in order to foster reconciliation, the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) and the Office for Reparations should operate independently and transparently.
Prof. Peiris attended the UNHRC session this month in Geneva, Switzerland, where he referred to serious anomalies and weaknesses in the update presented by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Michelle Bachelet. In her written update this month, Bachelet called upon the UNHRC and its Member States to co-operate with the Office of the UNHCHR in its discharge of accountability-related work under Resolution 46/1, and to provide it with adequate human and financial resources in order to enable it to effectively deliver the full mandate given under the said Resolution.