In a statement issued on March 21, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that there has been a marked improvement in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka over the past year, as a result of the measures implemented by the Government. It is noted that the recent statement by the ICRC does not contradict this central assertion of a downward trend.

Replying to a statement issued by ICRC on March 16 stating that it strongly objects to misleading public references to its confidential findings on disappearances that were included in a recent statement by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry said that it does not wish to debate the details in public in view of the need to honor the confidentiality agreement between the ICRC and the Government.

"However, it is extremely unfortunate that unwittingly or consciously the ICRC, through its statement, lends credence to those who seek to give Sri Lanka a bad name in public and thereby sustain the agendas of the detractors of Sri Lanka’s good name," the Ministry said.