Govt. to UNHRC: Targeted sanctions without “a semblance of evidence”

Opinion

By Our Political Editor

Battle lines are drawn at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. Human Rights High Commissioner Michele Bachelet’s damning report, on the one hand, and a resolution possibly reflecting the hallmarks, on the other, are heaping international conjecture and action on Sri Lanka.

This grim reality emerged in Colombo this week. Colombo-based envoys of countries that are members of the core group met Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena last Monday. The group consists of countries that lent their names to the original resolution spearheaded by the United States. They are Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The last two countries do not have representations in Colombo. When the US withdrew from the Human Rights Council, the UK donned the mantle of leading this core group. Those taking part were UK High Commissioner Sarah Hulton, Canadian High Commissioner David Mckinnon and German Ambassador Holger Seubert. [Read more]