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Sri Lanka pledges to eradicate root causes of terrorism

Xinhua, April 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sri Lankan government vowed to eradicate the root causes of terrorism and promote reconciliation after the end of a decades-long war, the foreign minister said on Thursday.

The new government, which came to power in January, has pledged to promote reconciliation between the island's majority Sinhalese population and minority Tamil community. Since coming into power the government has already released political prisoners and pledged to devolve power to Tamil majority areas.

"Sri Lanka condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. As importantly, we know that sustainably eradicating terrorism requires us to go beyond dealing with its symptoms," Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.

"We will resolve the root causes of injustice, discrimination and prejudice that have spawned hate and violence for many decades, " he said, at the 19th Session of the Sri Lanka - EU Joint Commission in Colombo.

"This government will break from this past and is deeply committed to make our vision of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual Sri Lanka based on the principles of equality, justice and meritocracy a reality for all Sri Lankans," said Samaraweera.

He stated that discussions are already underway to look at ways and means of expanding the scope of human rights in line with internationally accepted standards.

The last phase of Sri Lanka's war is being investigated by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). Samaraweera said the preliminary report, which is set to be released in September, will be taken into account by domestic investigative and judicial mechanisms which the government envisages setting up.

The foreign minister further said that the government has invited the Working Group on Involuntary and Enforced Disappearances and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the island nation. Both visits are expected to take place before September this year. Endi