22 March 2018 07:37 am
Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana told the 37th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva that "it has a long history of integrity and professionalism and since January 2015, steps have been taken to further strengthen its independence”.
The minister elaborated the actions taken by the government.
“The reconciliation and development agenda cannot be successfully achieved by government working alone. The participation of political parties, civil society, academia, the business community, the media as well as the international community are essential for this important national endeavour,” he said.
“We would like to stress with sincerity and conviction that we will not be deterred by anyone in fulfilling the undertakings given by us to our people, which will lead to building a peaceful, stable, reconciled and prosperous Sri Lanka for all our citizens,” the minister said.
“The legacy of conflict in Sri Lanka is heavy, and it permeates our society to this day. Extremists constantly strive to take advantage of this situation to achieve political gain. This realization only makes us even more determined to ensure that we never return to the violent days of the past. It is our intention to ensure the fulfilment of our commitments to all our people and bring closure to a sad and disturbing period of our recent history,” he said.