Sri Lanka made progress in justice, human rights: UN chief

Sri Lanka has made progress in reconciliation, human rights and justice but more needs to be done, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday.

Addressing a gathering in Colombo during his two-day visit, Ban said Sri Lanka is still in the early stages of regaining its rightful position in the region and the international community, Xinhua news agency reported.

"There is still much work to be done in order to redress the wrongs of the past and to restore the legitimacy and accountability of key institutions, particularly the judiciary and the security services," the UN chief said.

The island nation suffered 30 years of civil conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, which ended in May 2009 with the defeat of the rebels.

Ban, who is on the final leg of his visit to Sri Lanka, also urged Sri Lanka to speed up the return of land so that the remaining communities of displaced people can return home.

Thousands of victims were displaced by the conflict and the government is now in the process of setting up a domestic process to probe allegations of war crimes during and after the end of the war.

Ban arrived in the country on Wednesday, and travelled to the northern town of Jaffna on Friday to visit a resettlement site.

--IANS

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