The Government says there will be no additional or new commitments for Sri Lanka arising from the report on Sri Lanka by the UN High Commissioner for human rights, Zeid al-Hussein which was submitted to the ongoing 34th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The Foreign Ministry quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva as saying Sri Lanka will undertake a two-year extension of the timeline for fulfilment of commitments made in Resolution 30/1.

“During the Government headed by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Human Rights Council, on 27 March 2014, adopted Resolution 25/1 titled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’, requesting the High Commissioner, inter alia, to undertake a comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka during the period covered by the LLRC, and to establish the facts and circumstances of such alleged violations and of the crimes perpetrated with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability, with assistance from relevant experts and special procedures mandate holders, ” he said.

Following this request of the Council, the High Commissioner launched the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), a first of this nature carried out by an external entity on matters pertaining to Sri Lanka.

“Moreover, further international action was being envisaged on Sri Lanka as a result of the Government’s inaction on matters pertaining to rule of law, reconciliation, and governance, at the time the Presidential Election was held on 8 January 2015,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

Following the Presidential election on 8 January 2015, the National Unity Government of Sri Lanka, under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, took steps to take ownership of reconciliation, rule of law, accountability, human rights and governance issues.