Courtesy Hiru News

During the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, reiterated Sri Lanka’s rejection of any form of external intervention or mechanism to investigate alleged human rights violations.

Speaking at the session on Monday (08), Minister Herath stated that Sri Lanka’s commitment to the accountability process is exclusively through domestic mechanisms.

He was responding to a report on Sri Lanka presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

The Human Rights Council session, which began today and runs until October 8th, will address various topics, including the protection of human rights for youth, ending violence, and the rights of indigenous peoples.

Reports and verbal updates on the human rights situations in several countries, including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, and Syria, are also scheduled to be presented.

The High Commissioner’s report on Sri Lanka, which was recently published, claims that the government has failed for years to acknowledge serious human rights violations committed by the military and other security forces.

It also recommends that Sri Lanka sign the Rome Statute, which would give the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over war crimes accusations.

In response, the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva stated that Sri Lanka does not recognise the Human Rights Council Resolution 57/1, which the report is based on.

The mission’s statement highlighted Sri Lanka’s continued opposition to external accountability projects, arguing that such initiatives are detrimental to the domestic reconciliation process.

During his visit, Minister Vijitha Herath is also scheduled to hold bilateral discussions with several high-level diplomats.