Statement by the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 6th session of the Forum on Minority Issues, 26-27 November 2013 "Beyond freedom of religion or belief: Guaranteeing the rights of religious minorities" Madam Chair, My delegation congratulates you on your appointment as Chair of the 61" session of the Forum on Minority Issues. We welcome the unique opportunity provided by this Forum for engagement and dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society, on guaranteeing the rights of religious minorities. Sri Lanka has a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-culturat social fabric and the different communities have co-existed in the country for centuries. It must be emphasized that Sri Lanka's constitution recognises the nation's communal and religious diversity and enshrines all the fundamental human freedoms that the global community strives to uphold, which are firmly rooted in the provision that no citizen shall be discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, language caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any such grounds. . Each and every person in Sri Lanka, be he from the religious majority or a religious minority, has been constitutionally guaranteed the freedom to manifest his religion or belief' in worship, observance, 'practice or teaching, either by himself or in association with others, in public or in private. The Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs has under its purview ,separate departments dedicated to the different religions practiced in Sri Lanka - Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. These departments have the responsibility to look after the preservation, promotion and propagation of the respective religion. Religious holidays of all the religionS are observed throughout the country. All communities have the freedom to celebrate religious events, to engage in festivities and organise religious processions in observance their beliefs, With the defeat of terrorism and the ushering in of a new era of peace over four years ago, the Government of Sri Lanka has placed post-conflict reconciliation and rebuilding at the top of its agenda in line With the