Many countries flay Pillay’s oral update :

Unprecedented support for Sri Lanka at UNHRC sessions

by Manjula Fernando

Sri Lanka received unprecedented support at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) sessions last week with many countries criticising High Commisioners Navaneetham Pillay’s oral update based on her visit to Sri Lanka as ‘showing double standards’, ‘imbalanced’ and a ‘pretext to exert political pressure’.

Over 20 countries spoke in support of Sri Lanka while many others protested that the discussion on Sri Lanka was politically motivated. A number of countries including Venezuela, Belarus and Cuba has disassociated from the US sponsored resolution.

Russia said ‘using the HRC to settle political scores and gain geopolitical benefits is unacceptable’. The Russian representative said four years of ‘no bomb explosions and deaths’ prove that the internal process is working in the interests of the people and the Council should take note of it.

Russia also said that some assertions in Pillay’s submissions can be construed as beyond her mandate, noting that the democratic elections in the North, where Tamils had won, were possible due to the defeat of terrorism.’

Emphasizing that extending capacity-building and technical cooperation from the office of the High Commissioner should not be a pretext to exert political pressure, China asserted that the primary responsibility of promoting human rights lies within the country. Cuba said this was one of the most politicised resolutions moved in the UNHRC, adding that the report by Pillay did not recognise most of the country’s achievements and this fact was disturbing.

The Pakistani delegate said the High Commissioner’s oral update does not give due regard, recognition or acknowledgement of Sri Lanka’s significant strides adding that the achievements in the aftermath of the victory outweighed the challenges facing Sri Lanka. Belarus said theresolution sponsors should re-assess their position and cooperate with Sri Lanka through engagement and dialogue.

Venezuela rejected the selective interventionist attempts in the internal process of countries while Australia said that engagement and not isolation is the most effective way to promote human rights in Sri Lanka.

These countries showed solidarity with Sri Lanka at the General Debate under Agenda Item 10 of the Human Rights Commission sessions which followed the previous day’s presentation of the Oral Update of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on “Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, responded to her statement earlier saying that the High Commissioner had no mandate to call for an external inquiry and set deadlines for Sri Lanka’s internal probe.

Among the other countries that commended Sri Lanka’s achievements were Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Egypt, Myanmar, Brazil, Thailand, Kuwait and the Philippines.