Fresh UN Resolution on Sri Lanka tabled at UNHRC; Govt seeks vote

By S. Rubatheesan

A fresh UN Resolution on Sri Lanka expressing severe concerns about the recent violent incidents against anti-government protesters has been tabled at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) while reiterating its call for wartime accountability over alleged gross human rights violations. 

The Resolution tabled by the UN Core Group on Sri Lanka under the title of " Promoting reconciliation. accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka" urged the government to "ensure the prompt, thorough and impartial investigation and, if warranted, prosecution of all alleged crimes relating to human  rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including for longstanding emblematic cases, with the full participation of victims and their representatives," 

The UN Core Group on Sri Lanka is comprised of Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

While expressing concerns at the human rights impact of the economic crisis, including as a result of increased food insecurity, severe shortages in fuel, shortages in essential  medicines and reductions in household incomes, the Resolution also stressed the need to promote and  protect the rights of the most marginalized and disadvantaged individuals, including daily  wage earners, women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

The fresh UN Resolution also focused at other human rights developments since April this year "including violence against and the arrests of peaceful protestors, as well as violence against  government supporters, resulting in deaths, injuries, destruction and damage to the houses of  members of Parliament, and stresses the importance of independent investigations into all  attacks and that those found responsible be held to account,"

A source at the Foreign Ministry familiar with developments in the Geneva told Times Online that government will request for a vote on UN Resolution since many contents of the resolution are unfair considering the current plight of the country. 

It also recognized the importance of preserving and analysing evidence relating to  violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes in Sri Lanka with a view to  advancing accountability, and decides to extend and reinforce the capacity of the Office of the High Commissioner to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve information and  evidence and "to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for gross  violations of human rights or serious violations of international humanitarian law in Sri  Lanka, to advocate for victims and survivors, and to support relevant judicial and other proceedings, including in Member States, with competent jurisdiction," 

The latest resolution is based on the previous HRC resolutions which were passed in (19/2) of 22 March 2012, (22/1) of 21 March 2013, (25/1) of 27 March 2014, (30/1) of 1 October 2015, (34/1) of 23 March 2017, (40/1)  of 21 March 2019 and (46/1) of 23 March 2021 on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. 

The Resolution also urged the government of Sri Lanka to take measures to address the  marginalization of and discrimination against persons from the Muslim community and to  ensure that Muslims and members of other religions are able to continue to practice their own religious rites, including burial rites. 

The Resolution also requested the Office of the High Commissioner to enhance its monitoring and  reporting on the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on progress in  reconciliation and accountability, and on the impact of the economic crisis and corruption on human rights, and to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-third and  fifty-fifth sessions, and a written update at its fifty-fourth session and a comprehensive report  that includes further options for advancing accountability at its fifty-seventh session, both to  be discussed in the context of an interactive dialogue.

Addressing at the General Debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week (24), Foreign Minister Ali Sabry who headed the Sri Lankan delegation stressed that while the government unconditionally recognize the fact that one has a fundamental right to the freedom of expression, it must also be appreciated that, "this freedom must be within the constitutional order, and must be exercised having regard to one’s fundamental duty to express oneself within the confines of the law," 

Since the nearly three decads long civil war came to an end in 2009, war victims and survivors have been demanding for international justice since the government failed to adopt a domestic mechanism to probe the human rights allegations and alleged crimes committed against humanity as previous UN reports documented in detail. 

Ahead of UNHRC sessions, a group of Tamil parliamentarians and civil society representatives wrote to Foreign Ministers of the  UN Core Group on Sri Lanka urging them to present a fresh UN Resolution on Sri Lanka.

This they say is to achieve accountability for alleged crimes committed by referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as recommended by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in her last report submitted to the Council in March last year.

The collective letter signed by eight MPs from  the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Thamil Makkal Koottani led by C. V. Wigneswaran requested the Core Group to ensure that the fresh UN Resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC 51st session clearly urged the UN Security Council to refer Sri Lanka to the ICC since it failed to implement previous UN Resolutions thoroughly.

“We as representatives of the Tamil people strongly believe that anything short of calling for the referral to ICC will permanently eliminate any chance of getting justice for the mass atrocities we faced,” the letter stressed.

Pointing out that both North Korea and Sudan were referred to the ICC despite their close ties to China and it did not exercise its veto power at that time, the letter noted that none of the UN Security Council Permanent members has indicated that they will veto any referral of Sri Lanka to ICC as well.

“Then the question arises why this excuse is being advanced against Sri Lanka being referred to the ICC by the UNHRC. The only logical conclusion for this argument is that is to protect Sri Lankan political leaders and military officers from facing justice for the mass atrocities committed against Tamil people,” the letter noted.