10.3.2008
‘Engagement,
yes; permanent monitoring mission or external presence
on the ground, no’, emphasized Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations at Geneva
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka at a panel discussion titled `Sri
Lanka: The case against an International Monitoring Mission',
held Friday, March 07 on the sidelines of the Seventh
Session of the Human Rights Council in Room IX of the
Palais des Nati, Geneva.
In
his introductory remarks Ambassador Jayatilleka said that
the position of the Government of Sri Lanka regarding
international monitoring was very clear as it maintains
an open door policy and cooperates fully with the mechanisms
and procedures of the United Nations system for the protection
and promotion of human rights.
He
pointed out that Sri Lanka had opened up itself up for
scrutiny to a degree to which very few countries - if
any - beset by armed conflict had done. Sri Lanka has
been constructively engaged with UN mechanisms, however,
Dr. Jayatilleka stressed that Sri Lanka will not permit
any UN or other international monitoring mission in the
country for the foreseeable future.
Courtesy
PIRU