Colombo: Sri Lanka will launch a major publicity campaign coinciding with the UN Human Rights Council’s Geneva meet on February 27 in a bid to thwart possible attempts to undermine the country’s government over its rights record.
“We will have public protest campaigns throughout the country. This is to show solidarity over the Geneva meeting and other opposition protest campaigns,” government spokesman Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene said here today.
Sri Lanka is expected to face a resolution at the UNHRC session on February 27 over its rights record and accountability process following an expert panel’s report of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The government blames pro-LTTE diaspora groups in the West for trying to frame Sri Lanka over alleged rights abuses.
The resolution in Geneva is likely to be backed by the US government which wants the recommendations of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) be implemented in order to achieve national reconciliation.
Abeywardene said another government campaign would be launched on March 10 with village-level development work to show the authorities’ determination in the face of protests by “disgruntled” political elements with the aim of toppling the government.
“There will be a project launched at each of the 14,900 villages,” he said. (PTI)