{"id":79777,"date":"2022-10-05T00:36:34","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T04:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=79777"},"modified":"2022-10-05T23:47:06","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T03:47:06","slug":"decreasing-support-for-sri-lanka-in-combatting-resoltion-at-the-un-human-rights-council-51st-session-in-genevathe-number-of-votes-will-be-significantly-lesser-we-have-to-be-realistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=79777","title":{"rendered":"Decreasing Support for Sri Lanka in Combatting Resoltion at the UN Human Rights Council 51st Session in Geneva;\u201cThe number of votes will be significantly lesser. We have to be realistic,\u201d Says Foreign Minister Ali Sabry,"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka will get a \u201csignificantly lesser\u201d number of favourable votes at the U.N. Human Rights Council, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Wednesday said, apparently resigned to reduced international support at the Geneva forum whose 51 st session is underway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of votes will be significantly lesser. We have to be realistic,\u201d Mr. Sabry, currently in Geneva, told a media conference held virtually. Observing that the voting pattern \u201c is not a fair reflection\u201d of how all members think about Sri Lanka, he said \u201cheavy lobbying\u201d by powerful countries preceded the vote at the Council, which was \u201call geopolitics\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Minister\u2019s position signalled a shift in Colombo\u2019s tone from a month ago, when Mr. Sabry said Sri Lanka was \u201cnot interested in confrontation, we want to work towards consensus with all partners\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A resolution on Sri Lanka will be put to vote likely on Thursday, highlighting long-pending demands for truth and justice for alleged war crimes from the civil war era and the years after it ended in 2009, apart from other rights violations since.
\n
\nEconomic crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposed resolution this year also underscores the importance of addressing \u201cunderlying governance factors and root causes\u201d that have \u201ccontributed to\u201d Sri Lanka\u2019s unprecedented economic crisis. It identifies \u201cdeepening militarisation, lack of accountability in governance and impunity for serious human rights violations and abuses\u201d, as a central obstacle to the rule of law, reconciliation and sustainable peace and development in Sri Lanka. Further, it \u201crecognises that the promotion and protection of human rights and the prevention of and fight against corruption are mutually reinforcing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March 2021, Sri Lanka faced a U.N. resolution that was put to vote in Geneva. While 22 countries voted in its favour, 11 countries voted against it \u2014 endorsing Sri Lanka\u2019s position \u2014 and 14 countries, including India, abstained. While it is widely expected that India may abstain yet again, more countries among the Council\u2019s 47 members are likely to proactively back the resolution. <\/p>\n

Contending that the Council was \u201cpolarised\u201d, Minister Sabry said the international community, mainly the West that includes key economic powers, were \u201cusing Sri Lanka to test their agenda\u201d. \u201cSri Lanka has repeatedly said we need time and space to address pending issues, but the Core Group is not willing to listen,\u201d he said, referring to the group of countries led by the United Kingdom that are the main sponsors of the Sri Lanka resolution this year. The Group includes the United States, Germany, and Canada among others. Some 30 other countries are said to have joined the Core Group, backing the resolution.<\/p>\n

Outlining the government\u2019s efforts to repeal the country\u2019s much criticised anti-terrorism law, and introduce a new one; bring about constitutional amendments to strengthen parliamentary mechanisms and redistribute \u201c94 %\u201d of military-held lands in the north and east, Mr. Sabry said \u201cnone of it is credited\u201d by the international community, even as he argued that some recommendations of the resolution sought to interfere with Sri Lanka\u2019s Constitution.
\nAsked why the Sri Lankan government, which is willingly working with international actors including the International Monetary Fund \u2014 that makes its support conditional on several governance aspects \u2014 for economic recovery resisted foreign mechanisms on the rights front, Mr. Sabry said: \u201cThat is because Sri Lanka is a member of the IMF, we opted for IMF assistance, and we are part of the negotiations \u2026it is not imposed on us,\u201d although Sri Lanka has been a Member State of the U.N. since 1955, engaging with its mechanisms and agencies.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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

By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka will get a \u201csignificantly lesser\u201d number of favourable votes at the U.N. Human Rights Council, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Wednesday said, apparently resigned to reduced international support at the Geneva forum whose 51 st session is underway. \u201cThe number of votes will be significantly lesser. We have to be …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Decreasing Support for Sri Lanka in Combatting Resoltion at the UN Human Rights Council 51st Session in Geneva;\u201cThe number of votes will be significantly lesser. We have to be realistic,\u201d Says Foreign Minister Ali Sabry,’ »<\/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\/79777"}],"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=79777"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79780,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79777\/revisions\/79780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}