Human rights is an essential element of Sri Lanka's future, US says

The United States has said that human rights is an essential element of Sri Lanka's future to establish a new dynamic relationship with its people.
Assistant Secretary of US State Department Philip Crowley told the media Friday that the Sri Lankan government has an opportunity to change its relationship with the people of the country.

"As we've stressed in Sri Lanka many times, it has  there's an important opportunity here to change its relations with its population and subgroups within its population," Crowley said.

The Assistant Secretary was responding to a question from media on Sri Lankan government's refusal to allow the members of the panel of experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to investigate violations of human rights during the last stages of the war.
"Human rights is an essential element of Sri Lanka's future and it should take the opportunity, cooperate broadly, and establish a new dynamic and relationship with its people," Crowley remarked.
When asked whether the US thinks "at this point of time it's right for the UN to go in and have its own investigations," the spokesman replied that it is a matter for the UN.
The US Thursday urged Sri Lanka to take advantage of the UN Secretary General's panel of experts.
Earlier in the week the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice welcomed the appointment of the panel and said the US supports a robust accountability process that will provide a durable foundation for national reconciliation and the rule of law in the aftermath of Sri Lanka's decades-long conflict.
The Sri Lankan government vehemently opposed the appointment of the UN advisory panel saying that it is unwarranted and unnecessary as the government has already set in motion a mechanism to address the concerns the UN raised.