• Despite the pledges made to the UNHRC, the government was using the PTA
• “Some 35 countries are planning to pass a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC”

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera   

Sri Lanka has had to face a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council as Sri Lanka has failed to fulfill its pledges to the UNHRC on previous occasions, former Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris said yesterday.  

He told Parliament that he, as the then foreign minister under the instructions of then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, gave an undertaking that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) would be amended and until then it would not be used.  

 He said despite the pledges made to the UNHRC, the government was using the PTA.  

“Some 35 countries are planning to pass a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. It clearly highlights that Sri Lanka has failed to amend the PTA and that it is being used against people depriving off their human rights. We are inviting trouble. We need to keep the pledges we make at the UNHRC,” he said.  Prof. Peiris said Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has given an undertaking to establish a truth seeking commission and that Sri Lanka should work towards that end.