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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 12761347" data-attributes="member: 92282">The Government is to reject a move by the  United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to send a team to Colombo  to discuss the offer of “advice and technical assistance” towards  implementing the US-backed resolution on Sri Lanka.                                                The visit of such a  delegation is conveyed in a May 14 letter which the UN Human Rights High  Commissioner Navaneethan Pillay has sent to the Ministry of External  Affairs. She has said that such a visit would take place in July.                                               The government is to  take up the position that the visit of such a delegation would not be  acceptable since Sri Lanka was not a party to the adoption of the UNHRC  resolution. Hence any visit by UN officials with matters related to the  UN resolution would not be welcomed by the Government, a high ranking  official source said yesterday.                                               During the March  sessions of the UNHRC, one of the three key elements in the resolution  adopted was to encourage “…the Office of the United Nations High  Commissioner for Human Rights and relevant special procedures mandate  holders to provide, in consultation with, and with the concurrence of,  the Government of Sri Lanka, advice and technical assistance on  implementing the (two previously mentioned) steps; and requests the  Office of the High Commissioner to present a report on the provision of  such assistance to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-second  session.”                                               The Government is also  taking up the position that on its own, action was being taken on two  other points made in the resolution. They are the implementation of the  recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission  (LLRC) and the formulation of an Action Plan. The source said, “we are  taking these steps on our own and will not require any outside  assistance.” The source pointed out that visits by any UN team, as the  resolution specifies, should be “in consultation with, and with the  concurrence of, the Government of Sri Lanka.”                                               In the light of this,  there is still uncertainty over an impending visit to Sri Lanka by Ms.  Pillai. This is on the grounds that the Government is unwilling to  discuss any issues related to the UN resolution. ST</blockquote>

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