US-SL resolution after release of HR chief’s report

by Manjula Fernando

The US - Sri Lanka collaborative resolution will be ‘crafted’ after the release of the UN Human Rights High Commissioner’s report on accountability issues in Sri Lanka in September.

A spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs said President Maithripala Sirisena will be given a copy of the High Commissioner’s report sometime next month, before it is tabled at the 30th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. The report will incorporate the Sri Lanka Government’s inputs, before it is tabled.

“The thrust of the resolution will be based on the (recommendations) report of the Human Rights High Commissioner,” US Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Tom Malinowski, told media in Colombo, adding that the resolution will show Sri Lanka the way forward in dealing with accountability issues.

Once the report is made available to the President, Sri Lanka will respond outlining the recommendations that it would be taking on board and the progress it has made so far in the human rights front.

A resolution A/HRC/25/1, moved by the US and four others in March 2014, mandated the report ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’, by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Following the regime change post January 8, the Human Rights High Commissioner granted a onetime deferral of the report at the request of the Sri Lankan Government, much to the dismay of the Tamil Diaspora groups and Tamil political parties calling for an international inquiry into the alleged rights abuses during the final phase of the war.

Last week, Malinowski and US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Nisha Biswal, conveyed the US would help Sri Lanka promote a credible domestic mechanism through another resolution in Geneva. The domestic process is expected to be assisted by a team of international technical experts.

Malinowski also said, apart from the justice and accountability process, the US believed confidence building among Tamils can be achieved by actions such as returning land, releasing prisoners, working on demilitarization and changing the fundamental role of the military.