{"id":18836,"date":"2013-03-22T13:28:39","date_gmt":"2013-03-22T17:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=18836"},"modified":"2013-03-22T21:08:56","modified_gmt":"2013-03-23T01:08:56","slug":"did-the-usa-dilute-the-text-of-the-resolution-it-sponsored-on-sri-lanka-t-the-unhrcin-geneva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=18836","title":{"rendered":"Did the USA Dilute the Text of the Resolution It Sponsored on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in Geneva?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Narayan Lakshman <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At the eleventh hour before a crucial United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling on Sri Lanka to improve the post-war welfare of ethnic Tamils on the island, the U.S. appears to have watered down the text of that resolution.<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s revised draft copy of the resolution, which was freely circulating on the Internet by Tuesday, in particular hinted at at least one major change from an earlier version: an entire paragraph calling for \u201cunfettered access\u201d in Sri Lanka by a host of external observers and specialists was deleted.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A second key change in the text appeared to be regarding UNHRC\u2019s call for an external investigation into alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, during the final phase of the combat between Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in which many civilians were said to have been killed and injured.<\/p>\n

In the paragraph that included a section calling for a \u201ccredible international investigation\u201d into alleged human rights violations the U.S. appears to have rephrased the wording and elevated the request for an external investigation to a more prominent position in a previous section.<\/p>\n

However in a paragraph immediately following this one, the U.S. draft then veers off towards an apparent preference for Sri Lanka to conduct its own internal investigation into alleged human rights violations.<\/p>\n

In this second paragraph on the need for investigations the U.S. draft now reads, \u201c… calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to conduct an independent and credible investigation into allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, as applicable…\u201d The word \u201cinternational\u201d has been dropped.<\/p>\n

At numerous points throughout the text of the revised draft weaker language has been inserted in place of a more condemnatory tone. For example where \u201cNoting with concern…\u201d has been used, the \u201cwith concern\u201d phrase has been deleted. The phrase \u201cUrges the Government of Sri Lanka\u201d has been substituted with \u201cEncourages the Government of Sri Lanka.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most obviously, in a segment alluding to \u201cNoting with concern the failure of the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfil its public commitments, including on the devolution of political authority…\u201d the revised U.S. draft text has inserted \u201cCalling upon,\u201d in place of \u201cNoting with concern the failure of…\u201d<\/p>\n

In an early section that formerly stated that the UNHRC was \u201cReaffirming that it is the responsibility of the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of its entire population,\u201d the reference to the Government of Sri Lanka was substituted with the phrase \u201ceach State.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further, affirmative statements \u201cWelcoming and acknowledging the progress made by the Government of Sri Lanka,\u201d on holding elections, rebuilding infrastructure and resettling internally displaced persons were inserted where none existed before.<\/p>\n

In at least six places within the revised text, language that is unambiguously weaker than what was in the original text has been used. This does not include the insertion of positive statements recognising progress made nor a large number of other edits that make minor tweaks to various calls for Sri Lanka\u2019s actions to be consistent with human rights laws.<\/p>\n

G. Ananthapadmanabhan, Chief Executive of Amnesty International in India, was quoted in media reports saying, \u201cThere is a significant downgrading of the international community\u2019s concerns regarding human rights violations in Sri Lanka,\u201d adding that there was a \u201cmassive setback\u201d for the campaign for justice in Sri Lanka because \u201cThe draft resolution places the onus on Sri Lanka to set up a mechanism for a credible, independent investigation.\u201dCOURTESY:THE HINDU<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Narayan Lakshman At the eleventh hour before a crucial United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling on Sri Lanka to improve the post-war welfare of ethnic Tamils on the island, the U.S. appears to have watered down the text of that resolution. Washington\u2019s revised draft copy of the resolution, which was freely circulating on …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Did the USA Dilute the Text of the Resolution It Sponsored on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in Geneva?’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18836"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18888,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18836\/revisions\/18888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}