UN Special Rapporteur arrives for 6-day tour

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence, Pablo de Greiff arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday, for a six-day visit on an invitation of the Sri Lankan Government.
During his visit the UN official is scheduled to meet with Government officials and leaders of civil society organisations.
He is also expected to visit the conflict-affected North and meet Tamil political leaders as well as people.
According to a Foreign Ministry official, the Special Rapporteur is in Sri Lanka on an “exploratory visit and for consultations”.
de Greiff is the first UN official to visit the country since the new Government of President Maithripala Sirisena took over in January.
His visit comes ahead of a visit by the UN Working Group for Enforced Disappearances and a visit by the team of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) at the invitation of the Government.
The Government has also invited the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the island.