Sri Lanka slams UNHRC

Thursday, 6 March 2014 01:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

External Affairs Minister addresses UNHRC High Level segment
Says Pillay’s report will harm Lankan reconciliation process
UN High Commissioner’s report entirely rejected; claims it is fundamentally flawed
UNHRC action against SL “disproportionate” to circumstances
Says judging Sri Lanka by the initiatives of OHCHR is a ‘travesty of justice’
TNA hindering political settlement process by not participating in PSC

By Dharisha Bastians The Government yesterday slammed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for her report on Sri Lanka’s human rights record in its entirety and said it was “fundamentally flawed”. External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris who addressed the UN Human Rights Council High Level Segment in Geneva yesterday, said Pillay had exceeded her mandate by making reference to issues that had nothing to do with the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka that had been adopted in March last year.

"See Pages 14 and 15 for the full text of Sri Lanka’s statement at the UNHRC " “Those who exalt the report’s virtues only seek to inflict harm on the reconciliation process by bringing about a polarisation of Sri Lankan society,” the Minister charged. He said the ongoing focus on Sri Lanka had disregarded the “substantial progress” the Government had made in five years after the war. The Minister said the initiatives at the Council with regard to Sri Lanka paid scant regard to the complexities and local nuances of a sensitive reconciliation process while eroding confidence of the Sri Lankan people by what he called the “constant changing of unjustifiable demands”. Minister Peiris said the action against Sri Lanka was clearly disproportionate to the circumstances and inconsistent with the treatment of other comparable situations in other areas of the world. The Government Minister told the Council that Pillay’s report was “arbitrary, intrusive and of a political nature”. Peiris criticised the Council’s welcoming of the High Commissioner’s report even at the highest levels; a clear reference to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s remarks at the opening session of the UNHRC’s 25th Session on Monday (3). Minister Peiris also said that it was universally accepted that the High Commissioner and the OHCHR must remain transparent, objective and be guided solely by the mandate given by the UN. “However, if the initiatives taken on Sri Lanka at this juncture by the OHCHR is to be the basis on which the country is to be judged, it will clearly be a travesty of justice,” he said. Pillay’s report was based on questionable and baseless material including what has been processed outside the UN framework, the Minister said. Highlighting the Sri Lankan Government’s progress since the end of the war, Minister Peiris told the Council’s High Level Segment that the military has no involvement in civilian administration. He said the civil administration system in the north and east is fully functional. “However, it is regrettable that external entities think it fit to pressurize the Government with regard to that Councils staffing, and even on the appointment of the Governor, which is the prerogative of the Executive. Such pressure on the conduct of governance are unacceptable and not in keeping with the conduct of international relations,” the Minister charged. Minister Peiris also criticised the Tamil National Alliance for not participating in the Parliamentary Select Committee that had been set up to arrive at a final political solution to the ethnic issue. “It should be recognised that this approach by the TNA is a hindrance to any settlement. However, despite the non-participation of the TNA, the PSC continues with its deliberations,” the Minister told the Council. High Commissioner Pillay’s report criticised Sri Lanka’s progress on reconciliation and accountability five years after the end of the conflict and called for an international mechanism to address allegations of major abuses in the absence of a domestic process.