Wed 24 February 2021:
A top Sri Lankan minister has made a fervent appeal to the member states of the UNHRC to reject the impending resolution on the island nation’s human rights accountability and reconciliation, terming it a “pure political move” against the country.
Addressing a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session virtually on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena urged that the resolution be rejected by the council and brought to a closure.
The minister described the impending resolution as unsubstantiated and a “pure political move” against Sri Lanka.
Gunawardena’s remarks followed the country’s rejection of the UN rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s report which had called for drastic measures such as targeted sanctions and international criminal court procedure against those allegedly responsible for rights violations during the last phase of the armed conflict with the LTTE in 2009.
A draft of the resolution is expected to be tabled at the UNHRC sessions on Wednesday, officials here said.
Last month, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for an International Criminal Court investigation into Sri Lanka’s Tamil separatist conflict and sanctions against top generals and others accused of war crimes.
Bachelet accused Sri Lanka of reneging on promises to ensure justice for thousands of civilians killed in the final stages of the 37-year separatist war that ended in 2009.
The United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro and North Macedonia submitted a draft resolution for consideration by the 47-member Human Rights Council next month.
It is the only one tabled so far during the 46th regular session of the council, which opened on Monday and is due to run until March 23.
It “expresses serious concern over emerging trends over the past year, which represent clear early warning signs of a deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka”.
They include the “accelerating militarisation of civilian government functions, erosion of the independence of the judiciary … ongoing impunity and political obstruction of accountability for crimes … surveillance and intimidation of civil society and shrinking democratic space, arbitrary detentions, allegations of torture”.
It also voices concern that the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt freedom of religion.
It urges Colombo to ensure a “thorough and impartial investigation and, if warranted, prosecution of all allegations of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law”.
Gunawardena said the resolution, if passed, would only result in a significant loss of morale in countries fighting “terrorism”.
“The council must hold the scales even – not going by hearsay,” he said.
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