By Lakshman I. Keerthisinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today

This is a new dawn for Sri Lanka, a fresh era creating the opportunity for the country to come together…Now is the time for the West to understand the new mood in Sri Lanka, the desire on all sides for reconciliation to become realistic without any interference from the West or the UN Human Rights Council.” –  Lord Naseby President-All Party British Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group in UK.

Ceylon Today reported on 18 September that Cabinet Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella, while concurring with the position that Sri Lanka should pull out from United Nations Human Rights Council said Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena informing the UNHRC of the withdrawal from co-sponsorship of resolution 30/1 was the initial step in the process. Incidentally, addressing National Ranaviru Day commemoration last May President Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed similar views that he would not hesitate to withdraw from any international body or organisation if such entities target the country and war heroes using baseless allegations. 

Bachelet’s baseless allegations

Criticising the UNHRC, cabinet co-spokesman Dr.Ramesh Pathirana has pointed out that Sri Lanka’s Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dayani Mendis had dismissed the allegations against Sri Lanka made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet pointing out that such allegations are baseless.

 It is relevant to note that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. 

The UNHRC has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. The headquarters of UNHRC is in Geneva, Switzerland. The UNHRC investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in United Nations member states, and addresses important thematic human rights issues. The UNHRC was established by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) that had been strongly criticized for allowing countries with poor human rights records to be members. 

Members are selected via the basis of equitable geographic rotation using the United Nations regional grouping system. Members are eligible for re-election for one additional term, after which they must relinquish their seat. The General Assembly can suspend the rights and privileges of any Council member that it decides has persistently committed gross and systematic violations of human rights during its term of membership. The resolution establishing the UNHRC states that “when electing members of the Council, Member States shall take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made there to” and that “members elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights”. 

The UNHRC holds regular sessions three times a year, in March, June, and September. The UNHRC can decide at any time to hold a special session to address human rights violations and emergencies, at the request of one-third of the member states.  As of May 2020, there have been 28 special sessions.

US withdraws

The United States withdrew from the membership of UNHRC in June 2018 stating that the UNHRC adopts a disproportionate focus on allegations of human rights abuses committed by its ally, Israel. In 2006, when the council was established, then-US President George W Bush refused to join because the organisation included members accused by Washington of human rights violations. United States withdrawal from the United Nations refers to various proposals for the United States to terminate its membership in the United Nations, where it is one of the founding members and one of the five Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. 

These proposals are often motivated by a perceived threat to U.S. sovereignty, or theories that the U.N. is a potential World Government. The United States also announced its intention to withdraw from the World Health Organisation on July 6, 2021.

 It has been the practice of the UNHRC in the past to level baseless allegations of human rights violations against Sri Lanka’s security forces at the behest of the LTTE based diaspora groups such as the Transitional Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) based internationally in the United states of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland. Its Prime Minister is Visvanathan Rudrakumaran, the former international legal advisor to the LTTE. 

 In conclusion, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had indicated it is time for Sri Lanka to consider withdrawal from the membership of the UNHRC following the example set by the US as continued membership only results in erosion of the sovereignty of our motherland. As Lord Naseby has very aptly stated as quoted at the outset hereof for reconciliation to become realistic in Sri Lanka, it should be pursued without any interference from the West or the UN Human Rights Council.

 The writer is an Attorney-at-Law with LLB. LLM and MPhil(Colombo)