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Monday, September 07, 2009 - 07.33 GMT |
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Govt. committed
to re-settle IDPs in shortest time
Sri Lankan assures to UN |
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The
Government
of Sri
Lanka
reiterated
its
commitment
to
re-settle
the
Internally
Displaced
Persons
(IDPs)
in the
North as
soon as
the
de-mining
process
is
completed
and
infrastructure
and
basic
services
are
restored.
This was
conveyed
by
Minister
of
Disaster
Management
and
Human
Rights,
Mahinda
Samarasinghe
to the
UN
Secretary-General
(UNSG)
Ban Ki-moon
when he
met with
the UNSG
at the
Palais
des
Nations
in
Geneva
on the
sidelines
of the
World
Climate
Conference.
Minister
Samarasinghe
referring
to the
Join
Communiqué
issued
after
the last
visit of
the UNSG
to Sri
Lanka,
pointed
out that
the
National
Framework
Proposal
on
Re-integration
of
Ex-combatants
mentioned
in the
Joint
Communiqué
has now
been
completed,
after
wider
consultations,
and an
Action
Plan
based on
the
Framework
proposal
is now
being
implemented.
Referring
to the
UNSG’s
concerns
on the
Channel-4
video
tape,
the
minister
informed
the UNSG
that the
authenticity
of the
video
tape has
not been
established
by
Channel-4
and that
the
purported
footage
had been
allegedly
recorded
in
Janauary
this
year and
that it
was
strange
that it
took
nearly
eight
months
for the
video to
be
broadcast.
This
kind of
things
happened
during
the last
stages
of the
conflict;
four
doctors
in the
Wanni
were
used
regularly
by the
international
media to
say
there
were
massive
human
rights
violations
including
bombing
of
hospitals
and
civilians
by the
Sri
Lanka
army.
However
after
May 19,
the end
of the
conflict,
the
doctors
publicly
admitted
that
what
they
said at
the time
was a
result
of
extreme
pressure
brought
on them
by the
LTTE.
But
unfortunately,
by then,
despite
denial
the
damage
had
already
been
done, he
said.
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