US tables second resolution against SL at UNHRC

Saturday, 9 March 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The United States sponsored second resolution against Sri Lanka was tabled yesterday at the 22nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at Geneva.

With the tabling of the resolution, at 2.00 p.m. Geneva time, official negotiations commenced about the language and tenor of resolution against Sri Lanka.

The US Delegation in Geneva is also holding discussions with the Sri Lankan delegation about the resolution, the sources said.

Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva did not comment on whether the negotiations have commenced.

The draft of the resolution tabled has been circulated among foreign missions in Geneva.

It includes taking note of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s call for an international war crimes probe against Sri Lanka, a key change from the original leaked version of the US resolution.

“Welcome the Report of the OHCHR on advice and technical assistance for the Government of Sri Lanka on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka and the recommendations and conclusions contained therein in particular on the establishment of a truthseeking mechanism as an integral part of a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to transitional justice and notes the High Commissioner call for an independent and credible international investigation into alleged violations of international human rights lass and international humanitarian law,” the new draft of the resolution states.

Diplomatic sources told the Daily FT that the Government of Sri Lanka had been provided drafts of the resolution as early as February, despite Sri Lanka claiming it was unaware of the document.

The US Government is consistently asking the Sri Lankan Government to work with them on the resolution, the sources said.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison informed External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris that a second resolution against Sri Lanka would be moved by the US at the UNHRC on 2 January this year, the Daily FT learns.