The government has commenced work on the country report to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) next year.

The government has assigned Plantation Industries Minister and the Special Envoy of the President on Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe to undertake initial work for Sri Lanka's participation in the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in October 2012.

Minister Samarasinghe said the report has to be submitted to the UNHRC by March 2012 to be taken up for discussion in October 2012.

He observes that it would be a comprehensive report that would include the work carried out by the country with regard to human rights between the period of 2008 and March 2012.

The UPR process reviews a country's human rights record every four years. The last UPR for Sri Lanka was held in 2008.

The process requires the state to declare what actions it has taken during the last four years to improve the human rights situations and fulfill the government's human rights obligations.

Meanwhile, Minister Samarasinghe was also appointed as the head of the inter-ministerial committee appointed to monitor the overall implementation of the five-year National Human Rights Action Plan.

The Plan was voluntarily prepared by the government in response to a pledge made at the Universal Periodic Review meeting before UN Human Rights Council in 2008.

The five-year Action Plan is to be implemented under eight stages and has currently been distributed among government ministries and other stakeholders.