The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) expressed its disappointment about the false information that was published in the past through various media outlets, in response to which the Commission presented its rebuttals over the said false news reports on several occasions. “The citizens of Sri Lanka are entitled to receive true and accurate information, and in order to avoid the potential negative view that could be held by the general public regarding the functions of the HRCSL, the Commission aims to place on record accurate information regarding the vetting process,” HRCSL Chairperson Dr. Deepika Udagama said. Though conducting a vetting process for the purpose of a human rights clearance process for Sri Lankan security forces prior to their deployment to UN peacekeeping operations did not fall under the direct mandate of the HRCSL, the responsibility had been assigned after the Government of Sri Lanka had discussed the requirement with the United Nations on 15 June 2016. The decision to appoint HRCSL as the national entity for the task was agreed upon by the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, and senior officials of the Sri Lanka Army and the Department of Police, and on 28 June 2016, HRCSL had agreed to conduct the process. In order to expedite the vetting process, the lists of personnel from military troops should be vetted by HRCSL and by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also informed the Commission that each and every troop member must be cleared by both entities and the final arbiter of this vetting process would be the UN. A considerable amount of time and resources are expended by the Commission in executing the vetting process, in order to ensure the integrity of this process and render justice to all troops. Simultaneously, a discussion was held among the Army Commander, representatives of the UN, members of the Police Department, Sri Lanka Air Force, and HRCSL on 25 March 2019, during which the current progress of the vetting process and the subsequent steps to be followed were discussed. During the discussion, the Army Commander stated that reliable information on the vetting of military personnel can only be obtained from the Army Commander and the Media Unit of the Sri Lanka Army, and therefore, any other information extracted from other personnel or sources would not be true or accurate. At the meeting held on 20 June 2019 with all relevant parties, chaired by President Maithripala Sirisena, the current status of the vetting process was informed – following the issuance of vetting results for the priority lists of nine groups, 632 officers from six groups have been deployed for peacekeeping missions.