Sri Lanka successfully dealt with the 49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland and was able to present the facts logically and precisely to counter the allegations levelled against the country, Foreign Secretary Admiral (Prof.) Jayanath Colombage said.
He added that a number of discussions were held in Geneva with the representatives and officials of foreign countries, which were very fruitful. The Foreign Secretary made these remarks at a media briefing organized by the Presidential Media Centre (PMC) yesterday (15) under the theme ‘the UNHRC and Sri Lanka ’.
President’s Media Spokesman Kingsley Rathnayake moderated the media briefing.
Prof. Colombage added that the current report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet focused more on the internal political affairs of a sovereign country rather than the alleged human rights abuses during the 30-year war period.
“We questioned whether the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had the right to inquire into such internal matters and whether it was in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,” he said.
“We held a number of meetings and explained this situation to a number of foreign delegates. Thirty-one countries spoke on behalf of Sri Lanka during the Council’s Interactive Dialogue session. The main argument of the Sri Lankan delegation was not to interfere in our internal affairs. The support of a country [subject to a Resolution] is essential for any endeavor to succeed,” he added.
He added that the Sri Lankan delegation had extensive discussions with the Chairman of the UNHRC and the response to these meetings has been positive.
Foreign Secretary Colombage said the next challenge for Sri Lanka is the 51st Human Rights Council Session to be held in September 2022. He added that a proper time frame needs to be devised for this and that the support of everyone, including the academics and civil society representatives, is needed.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary said that a few LTTE ideologists and sympathizers were holding protests against Sri Lanka abroad and that these protests have had no impact on Sri Lanka.
However, he said these Diaspora groups should also be included in the development of the country and that they hope to achieve progress in this aspect through discussions. The President has already invited them to have a dialogue with the Government.
Referring to the progress made during the last two and a half years, especially in the last six months, the Foreign Secretary pointed out that a number of positive steps have been taken including the amendment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the release of 81 LTTE prisoners and the payment of compensation to the victims under the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and Office of Reparations (OR) Programmes. It has now been decided to grant Rs.100,000 to relatives of those disappeared who have only a Certificate of Disappearance but no Certificate of Death, considering the families’ dire economic circumstances.
