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Q.535 UN human rights report
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.535
TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2011
SHRI MANICKA TAGORE:
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Union Government has taken note of the public release of the three member expert panel’s report by United Nations on human rights accountability in Sri Lanka;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the reaction of Union Government in this regard?
ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SMT. PRENEET KAUR)
(a) to (c) Yes. The Report of the United Nations Secretary General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka Government was publicly released on 26 April 2011. The Panel was set up by the UN Secretary General with the objective of advising him on the developments in Sri Lanka in the last stages of the conflict. In general, there are still questions on the report. Some countries have raised this in the UN Human Rights Council. Government has heard the views of the Sri Lankan Government on the UN Panel Report on various occasions, including during the visit of their Foreign Minister to New Delhi in May 2011 and again during the Troika meeting in June 2011 in Colombo. In a Joint Statement issued during the visit of the Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister to India in May 2011, the External Affairs Minister of India “urged the expeditious implementation of measures by the Government of Sri Lanka, to ensure resettlement and genuine reconciliation, including early return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their respective homes, early withdrawal of emergency regulations, investigations into allegations of human rights violations, restoration of normalcy in affected areas and redress of humanitarian concerns of affected families”.