INDIA VOTES AGAINST LANKA, UN RESOLUTION ON WAR CRIMES ADOPTED
Geneva: India is among 24 countries that voted against Sri Lanka today at a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The UN’s top human rights body has passed a resolution, sponsored by the US, that Sri Lanka must properly investigate alleged war crimes during its 26-year conflict with the rebel Tamil Tigers.
15 countries including China and Russia backed Sri Lanka, which had rejected the resolution, saying it unduly interfered in the country’s domestic affairs and could hinder its reconciliation process. Eight countries abstained from today’s vote. India’s Ministry of External Affairs underlined, “While we subscribe to the broader message…any assistance from the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights or visits of UN Special Procedures should be in consultation with and with the concurrence of the Sri Lankan Government. A democratic country like Sri Lanka has to be provided time and space to achieve the objectives of reconciliation and peace.”
Earlier this week, Dr Manmohan Singh said in Parliament that India “is inclined to vote in favour of the resolution.” The Prime Minister had been warned that if India did not vote against Sri Lanka, his key ally, the DMK, would pull out of the government.
Sri Lanka had asked India to reconsider its position. Members of the Sri Lankan delegation to Geneva said today that they understand India’s domestic compulsions, but as the super-power in this region, India must recognise that Sri Lanka needs time to investigate the allegations against its defence forces as well as the LTTE, before settling accountability.
Human rights groups say nearly 40,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the war. The Sri Lankan government had created a committee, the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Process, to study the allegations of war crimes. The US delegation in Geneva today referred to the government’s “lack of action to implement the recommendations” of that commission. It described the resolution it has moved as one “that encourages Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its own LLRC and to make concerted efforts at achieving the kind of meaningful accountability upon which lasting reconciliation efforts can be built.”
China has thrown its weight behind Sri Lanka, saying it is against any country putting pressure on others in the name of rights violations. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Sri Lanka and its people were capable of dealing with their own affairs.
China, in recent years, has made big investments in Sri Lanka besides assisting the island with major projects like building a modern port at Hambanthotta. Earlier this month, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa visited Beijing to seek its support to stave off the US-led move.
The US delegation’s statement on the resolution on Sri Lanka:
“The United States is pleased to introduce draft resolution L.2, on Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka for consideration and approval by this Council. This resolution enjoys the broad support of 40 co-sponsors. A copy of the text, including slight revisions, is being circulated in the room today.
It is almost three years since the end of Sri Lanka’s long and painful conflict. For the past three years, my government has worked bilaterally, and with like-minded countries, to engage officials at the highest levels of the Sri Lankan government on the steps that are necessary to build a peaceful future for the Sri Lankan people. For those three years, Sri Lanka has had the time and space to develop its own roadmap for lasting national reconciliation and accountability. Most recently, we have encouraged Sri Lanka to address actions taken on both sides of the conflict through its domestic Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission Process. We looked forward to the Commission’s report, and understood that Sri Lanka would develop its own action plan to implement the LLRC recommendations.
We have also worked bilaterally, and with like-minded countries, to encourage Sri Lanka to take advantage of the resources of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. And we have encouraged Sri Lanka to engage with the Council, and to benefit from the broad range of experiences of Member States that have dealt successfully with their own post-conflict situations.
Mme President and Distinguished delegates, an enduring peace will be unsustainable without meaningful steps to foster national reconciliation and accountability.
Given the lack of action to implement the recommendations of the Sri Lankan government’s own LLRC, and the need for additional steps to address accountability issues not covered in the LLRC report, it is appropriate that the UNHRC consider and adopt this moderate and balanced resolution. It is a resolution that encourages Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its own LLRC and to make concerted efforts at achieving the kind of meaningful accountability upon which lasting reconciliation efforts can be built.
In addition, this Resolution urges Sri Lanka to work with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and draw from helpful expertise the Office can offer.
These proposals are reasonable, constructive, and carefully tailored to the needs of the situation. At our informal session on March 8, none of the many delegations present offered proposals for specific textual modifications.
To close, I wish to emphasize that this resolution is intended to help the people of Sri Lanka achieve a lasting and equitable peace that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect.
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