Sri Lanka to review UNHRC resolution

by Sharmini
Nov 26, 2019

Sri Lanka will review the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution that it co-sponsored in 2015, Colombo Gazette reported. 

Newly appointed Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena, said that the new government will review Resolution 30/1 entitled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.’ 

This move comes weeks after Gotabaya Rajapaksa, president of Sri Lanka, vowed to reject the UN resolution during this election campaign. The resolution mandated an accountability mechanism with international judges to prosecute crimes committed during the final months of the armed conflict, in which tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed.

Speaking on the UN resolution, Gotabaya said:

“We have already rejected that, as a party we have rejected that agreement and in public we have rejected that. ... On this issue, our policies and the present government policies are far apart. We have to move forward, we have to forget about hanging on to old allegations and all that.”

Gunawardena also expressed that other 'controversial' bilateral agreements signed with other countries will be reviewed. 

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