Samarasinghe admits Tamil might have felt discriminated

Annan has requested Sri Lankan delegation at the inaugural session of the new Human Rights Council in Geneva to convey his message to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told BBC Sandeshaya that he emphasised that Sri Lankan state is obliged to investigate any civilian killing and bring the culprits to justice.

Civilian killings

In his speech to the Council, the minister has pledged to investigate last week’s massacre in Kebitigollewa where 63 civilians were killed.

Minister Samarasinghe admitted Tamil community might feel discriminated as no senior minister visited places where Tamil civilians killed in recent weeks.

	Annan has pledged full support for Sri Lanka peace process

President Rajapaksa and senior security officials visited the scene of the bus blast on Thursday.

However, Kebitigollewa massacre was not comparable to many other killings, he said, and not every place is safe for the senior ministers to visit.

“Ideally, we should have adopted a policy of senior officials visiting anywhere a civilian killing takes place,” he told bbcsinhala.com.

Constitution 'violated'

Human Rights activists have accused President Rajapaksa of violating Sri Lanka’s constitution by making appointments to public bodies including that of National Human Rights Commission.

But Minister Samarasinghe says President had to intervene as the Constitutional Council (CC) has been dysfunctional for months due to the inability of political parties failed to appoint their nominees.

“All this happens because of the setbacks of the 17 amendment,” he said.

Opening the inaugural session, Kofi Annan said the new body presented the international community with a great chance to renew its struggle for human rights.

The council replaces the old, discredited Human Rights Commission, which had been widely accused of protecting countries with poor human rights records.

The BBC correspondent in Geneva says the hope is that the council will be more democratic, less politicised and more effective in upholding human rights.

Countries now have to be elected by a majority at the General Assembly, and they can be suspended if they commit violations.