Govt. says it remains steadfast despite UNHRC resolution

By Uditha Jayasinghe

As the UN Human Rights Council passed a second resolution on Sri Lanka, the Government on Thursday insisted it would remain steadfast and emphasised the move would undermine post-war reconciliation in the country, an official said.

As the members of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) gathered in Geneva to debate and pass a second US-backed resolution on Sri Lanka calling for deeper implementation of human rights, Government Spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella noted “whatever the outcome, we will stand.”

“Whatever the outcome, we will stand. This is not going to be the end of the road; neither is it going to be a disaster as some people expect. We are quite strong and we feel that we can meet any situation,” he noted confidently.

Speaking to the media, Rambukwella reiterated that the Sri Lankan Government had worked hard in the last four years to promote minority rights, resettle over 200,000 people and demine large tracts of land.

“We have made our position very clear through the entire process and we believe is that the US resolution is undermining the efforts made by the Sri Lankan Government in good faith. So we have requested the rest of the world who are the other participants to look at it on those lines.”

He insisted that the key accountability report presented by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa was being implemented with nearly “50% of recommendations being implemented”.

“It is up to them to look at it that way because we feel that the LLRC, as we have repeatedly stated, we have done 50% of it and it’s not something that we can complete overnight because certain recommendations of the LLRC require even Parliamentary approval. Therefore, you need to space it out. As far as we are concerned we are happy and there are many other countries that are also happy with our performance.”

The US has tabled a diluted resolution that calls for future monitoring of Sri Lanka’s human rights situation, but does not expressly call for international probes into allegations of war crimes as it did in 2012.

However, the Sri Lankan Government is not out of the woods yet as it could end up on the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) that could suspend it from the Commonwealth and prevent it from hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November.

CHOGM is the highest decision-making body of the Commonwealth.

The Indian Government may also bring a resolution against its Sri Lankan counterpart under pressure from South Indian politicians.