The vote on the Core Group Resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva has been postponed for today, March 23.
The vote was to be taken yesterday but it has been postponed for today due to scheduling issues, a spokesman at the Foreign Minister’s Media Unit said.
The Resolution has been tabled by Core Group on Sri Lanka consisting of the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, and North Macedonia at the 46th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.
More than 21 countries out of the 47 Member States represented in the UNHRC so far have expressed support for Sri Lanka’s unwavering stance regarding the Core Group Resolution A_HRC_46_L.1 titled ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’ that has been tabled earlier.
Resolution HRC 46/1 among other things calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure the prompt, thorough and impartial investigations and, if warranted, prosecution of all allegations of gross human rights violations and serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) during the conflict period.
The Office of the UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet earlier released a report on Sri Lanka along the same lines which called for targeted sanctions on Sri Lankan officials and several other recommendations.
Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has noted that the allegations of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka by several countries including the UK, Canada and Germany is an action taken for political purposes, by concealing the truth.
The Minister pointed out that it is not the responsibility of an internationally recognized Human Rights Council to accuse or take a vote on the internal affairs of our country.
