{"id":112453,"date":"2021-03-08T16:30:16","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T23:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=112453"},"modified":"2021-03-08T16:30:16","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T23:30:16","slug":"the-foreign-minister-at-the-43rd-unhrc-session-rightfully-said-sri-lanka-will-oppose-and-reject-unhrc-resolution-the-way-forward-is-to-ask-for-a-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/03\/08\/the-foreign-minister-at-the-43rd-unhrc-session-rightfully-said-sri-lanka-will-oppose-and-reject-unhrc-resolution-the-way-forward-is-to-ask-for-a-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"The Foreign Minister at the 43rd UNHRC session rightfully said Sri Lanka will oppose and reject UNHRC resolution. The way forward is to ask for a vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Senior Lawyer \u00a0[e mail srilankastudycircle@yahoo.com]<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The purpose of\nthis article is to present the   expert views and advice so far\npublished on how to preserve our sovereignty, when nations which describe\nthemselves as a \u2018core  group\u2019, comprising\nCanada, UK, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Germany, have proposed a resolution\nat the 43rd session of the UNHRC that threatens the very sovereignty of Sri\nLanka.   This group proposes to violate Sri Lanka\u2019s sovereignty,\nby changing the global rules, masquerading under the cover of \u2018Human\nRights\u2019.  Their   proposed\nresolution, as reported, is based on the outrageous Report of the United\nNations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet  who has no clue of what happened in Sri Lanka\nand is relying on questionable \u2018hearsay\u2019 evidence.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government\nhas the responsibility to  tell the\npeople in detail what they will do at the UNHRC. They must tell the people that\nBachelet with the CORE GROUP are cutting the path to recolonise Sri Lanka,\nas acceptance of  her report means, the\ninternational community will  take\nappropriate collective action,taking away our  independence,\nsovereignty and territorial integrity.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government\nmust   request a friendly Non Aligned Movement [NAM] country,\nmember of the Human Rights Council, to call for a vote. If we do not, the draft\nresolution  will be adopted by  consensus without a vote .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the\nreality because this is the procedure practiced at the UNHRC. It is similar to\nseconding a motion. If the draft resolution is  adopted  <\/strong>  the  Sri\nLanka Government will be implicitly accepting that it is  unable and unwilling to protect its\npopulation from war crimes , \ngenocide,  crimes against humanity\nand \/ethnic cleansing.   By doing so we\nwill be admitting we are a failed state and therefore exposing the forces to be\ntried outside the country    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have Bachelet and the 5 \u2018Core Group\u2019 forgotten what  President Bush said after the 9\/11, terrorist\nattack? He said  “Every nation, in\nevery region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are\nwith the terrorists.\u201d     <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 People\nof great character in Sri Lanka have stood-up to bullies before, and we shall\ndo the same, this time too. Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam spoke at a Sinhalese\nConference in 1919 for the purpose of organizing \u2018People \u2018s Associations\u2019 throughout\nthe island. This was during the British colonial period when he said, The\npeople are deprived of all power and interest in the administration of their\naffairs; we are almost like cattle, driven at the pleasure of their official\nmasters. People have been reduced to a state of helpless\ndependency.\u201d  [ \u2018Speeches and Writings of Sir  Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam\u2019 , my friend, a\ngranddaughter of that great gentleman, gifted the  invaluable book. The\ntime is right to get together to form a   similar  \u2018People\u2019s  Associations\u2019.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is based on the path shown by   great, present day patriots like Tamara Kunanayakam <\/strong>who was Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the\nUN in Geneva, Chairperson of the UN Working Group on the Right to Development\nleading intergovernmental negotiations, and a senior official at OHCHR,   Shenali\nWaduge<\/strong> that indomitable vanguard and heart\nof  Sri Lanka patriotism with her prolific writings and\nresearch  and the many committed members of the Sri  Lanka Study Circle and \nother groups including Nidahas net work, <\/strong>Professionals\u2019 National Front (PNF),<\/strong>  <\/strong>who, fed\nby the people, have kept alive the spark of a great Nation.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They all point out that colonisation in the 21st\nCentury is mainly not with weapons,  but\nby hegemony where the minds of the people are bombarded with fake reports,\nfalse allegations and with the use of Human rights as a weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has  the \ngovernment looked into the \nlegality of Bachelet   Report <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has \nthe  government looked into\nthe  legality of Bachelet Report  with regard to its compatibility with  the UN Charter and  the 1970 General Assembly Declaration on\nPrinciples of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Corporation\namong States, which is the authentic interpretation of the Charter<\/strong>? <\/strong>The patriots point out that Bachelet  has  shown\nutter contempt  for the  mandate given to her by the General Assembly\nwithin the framework of the Charter .   To understand the legality of\nthe Bachelet Report , attention must be drawn to the doctrine  known as the Responsibility to protect          [ R2P]. \nThe Bachelet report   attempts to\nuse the Responsibility  to Protect\u2019 [<\/strong>R2P] to advance a vision of\na  unilateral world order  to replace the multilateral order based on\nthe UN Charter.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The birth of the doctrine \u2018Responsibility  to Protect\u2019 people of other nations [the \nR2P ] <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Responsibility to Protect\n(R2 P) concept was coined, not by the United Nations, but by the\n2001 International Commission of Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS),\nwhich was set up by the Government of Canada in 2001. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doctrine marked a poignant\ntransformation of international understanding of \u2018sovereignty\u2019. In the words\nof the drafters, a country loses its\nsovereignty if it is proved to have committed four\natrocious crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic\ncleansing.   Such was the case when\nUK and US  simulated the language of the\nResponsibility to Protect [R2P] doctrine to justify waging war in Iraq in 2003\nunder the guise of humanitarian grounds. Is this justifiable?. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamara Kunanayagam   repeatedly  alerts\nthe government to the  R2 P  language sneaked into the  Bachelet\nReport  found in Para. 56 of R to P : that is —       The Government has now demonstrated its\ninability and unwillingness  to pursue a\nmeaningful path towards accountability for international crimes and serious\nhuman rights violations.\u201d  It is this language that Bachelet uses to\njustify a call for preventive action and  \napplication of unilateral coercive measures against Sri Lanka such as\nsanction  which are, incompatible with\nthe UN Charter.\u2019\u2019<\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this imply  the Government\nadmits that it is unable and unwilling to protect its own people<\/strong>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People ask, why has the Government not\nresponded to the R2P logic underlying  the \nBachelet Report. Does this imply that \nthe Government admits that it is unable and unwilling  to protect its own people.  The\nreport  is not about promoting and\nprotecting the   human rights of  Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims but  paving the way for foreign occupation and\ninterference in our internal affairs with aggressive unilateral measures <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bachelet\u2019s   new precedent to exercise R2P in the conduct\nof the UNHRC  is a warning to all\ncountries <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bachelet Report, by adopting the logic\nand language of  R2 P, attempts to set a\nprecedent to undermine Charter based multilateralism and the sovereignty\nprinciple.   The Study Circle in its  articles point out to the Government that\nif we concede and accept the outrageous report of the United Nations High\nCommissioner for Human Rights,  we\nwill  lose our sovereignty and we\nwill   endanger other countries by allowing an\nillegal precedent to be set up much against the UN Charter, whereby  other nations will  also\nautomatically lose their sovereignty.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The UNHRC members [34 from NAM ] who suffered immensely under colonial\ndomination  must realize the new\nprecedence  to recolonize. <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   The Foreign\nMinister at the 43rd UNHRC session rightly said that Sri Lanka rejects the\nresolution and seeks closure. If that is so, the only way forward   is to call for a  vote \nthrough a  friendly member state. It\nis on the basis of common interest that we must mobilise the countries of Non\nAligned Movement and the Global south to vote against the resolution. If we\nfail in this regard it can imperil the foreseeable future of many countries. It\nis therefore a grave responsibility cast on us, the Non-Aligned <\/strong>nations<\/strong>, by history to preserve our independence and\nsovereignty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s vital role to unite the NAM  to prevent return to foreign occupation\nand  domination<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka today\nhas a major role to play as before when NAM \nwas founded to unite all the countries to strengthen the Non Aligned\nMovement to prevent a return to foreign occupation and  domination<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nSri Lanka study circle asks, \u2018Why does Colombage barefacedly lie that the key\nto our Foreign Policy is \u2018Neutrality\u2019.   What strength\nwould we be able to garner if we had the 120 countries of the Non Aligned\nMovement with us, on a common platform? Can we afford to alienate 120 out\nof the 193 countries, members of the United Nations, 34 out of the 47 members\nof the Human Rights Council ? Can we afford to isolate ourselves and become\nprey to the ambitions of a hegemonic power? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Why\ndoes Colombage   say  \nthat we will not surrender without a fight?.   Does it mean that   the Government has an idea to surrender\n?.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shenali Waduge—in her article\ntitled  \u2018 Bring intrusive UNHRC Resolution against Sri Lanka to a\nconclusion with a VOTE\u2019    endorses Tamara Kunanayagam who\nwith her experience had said this in many interviews.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 .  The Non-Aligned Movement\u2019s\nobjectives are clearly enunciated  by Fidel Castro in his Havana\nDeclaration of 1979.  As he said the Movement\nis the safety net to  ensure the national independence, sovereignty,\nterritorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries in their struggle\nagainst imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of\nforeign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as\nagainst great power and bloc politics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Senior Lawyer \u00a0[e mail srilankastudycircle@yahoo.com] The purpose of this article is to present the   expert views and advice so far published on how to preserve our sovereignty, when nations which describe themselves as a \u2018core  group\u2019, comprising Canada, UK, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Germany, have proposed a resolution at the 43rd session of the UNHRC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sri-lanka-study-circle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}