A United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will visit Sri Lanka during August 3-12.
Stating this, Mahishini Colonne, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Sri Lankan government, told reporters on Wednesday that the government and the U.N. group had been working together since the 1990s and it was in continuation of this relationship that an invitation was extended to the Working Group last year. The exact programme of the Working Group would be announced in due course.
Established in 1980 to assist families in determining the fate and whereabouts of disappeared relatives, the Group now includes five independent experts from all regions of the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Ariel Dulitzky (Argentina) and the Vice-Chair is Jasminka Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Other members are Bernard Duhaime (Canada), Osman El-Hajjé (Lebanon); and Houria Es-Slami (Morocco).
Fishermen issue
Answering questions on the long-standing problem between fishermen of India and Sri Lanka, she replied that a settlement could not be found “overnight” to the problem, which required “understanding and patience” on either side. Talks were on between the two sides, she said, refusing to get drawn into the statement of Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera that Sri Lanka had rejected the demand of the Indian fishermen to carry out fishing in Sri Lankan waters for 63 days in a year.
As of now, no fishermen was in the custody of authorities of either of the two countries. But, four Sri Lankan boats were with the Indian authorities and 46 Indian boats with the Sri Lankan authorities, Ms. Colonne added.