Lanka bracing to face UN rights review Published: Monday, Oct 29, 2012, 20:58 IST Place: COLOMBO | Agency: PTI

Sri Lanka will undergo a periodical scrutiny of the United Nations' human rights body that will review its progress on the rights front and might pose tough questions on the issue of violations in Tamil-dominated areas.

Sri Lanka was the subject of a UN Human Rights Council resolution in March when its track record in investigating violations in the final stages of the LTTE war was questioned.

The Universal Periodic Review is a mechanism where all 193 UN member states come under scrutiny by working groups every four to five years.

The sessions for Sri Lanka will begin on November 1 in Geneva during which the country's human rights record will be reviewed.

Under the process, a troika headed by India, with Benin and Spain as the other members, would formulate a report on Sri Lanka based on the country's responses to queries on human rights from UK, Australia, Canada, China, Netherlands, Sweden and Pakistan.

The ministry of external affairs said here today that Sri Lanka was ready to face the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) with confidence.

"We have prepared well to face the review," Karunatillake Amunugama, secretary to the ministry said.

He said the minister of plantation industries and President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Human Rights envoy Mahinda Samarasinghe would make Sri Lanka's submission at the UPR.

A high-powered Sri Lanka delegation comprising of officials from the external affairs ministry, ministry of justice and the attorney general's department had travelled to Geneva for the UPR scheduled to happen on November 1.

Amunugama said Sri Lanka would detail its progress made since 2008.

The US-moved, India-backed resolution called for expeditious implementation of Sri Lanka's rights accountability process.