{"id":114487,"date":"2021-05-23T16:16:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T23:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=114487"},"modified":"2021-05-23T16:16:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-23T23:16:50","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-18d-pt-4a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/05\/23\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-18d-pt-4a\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 18D Pt 4a"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Sri Lanka had\nplenty to say  at Geneva when the UNHRC\nResolution 46\/1 \u2018 Promoting reconciliation ,accountability and human rights in\nSri Lanka\u201d came up for   approval in\nGeneva in February 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\nsaid   that the Resolution violated Article 2(7) of\nthe United Nations Charter, and acts beyond the mandate given in United Nations\nResolution 60\/251.  UNHRC has no right to\ninterfere in the affairs of a sovereign country in this manner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nResolution is based on the report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights\non Sri Lanka presented to the 46th Session of the HRC. The report is one-sided\nand exceeds the mandate of the UN Human Rights Council. It contains sweeping\nrecommendations and unsubstantiated and unwarranted comments of essentially\npolitical nature which no self-respecting sovereign country can accept. This report\nviolates the principles of sovereign equality of all member states of the UN\nand non-interference in internal affairs. This Resolution is the work of other\ncountries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\nalso categorically rejected the unprecedented proposal in this Resolution to\nexpand the role of the OHCHR. This sets a dangerous precedent and will have\nwide-ranging implications for all countries. The Council cannot assume tasks\nnot assigned to it by the UN General Assembly in resolution 60\/251.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does Sri\nLanka represent a case warranting the immediate attention of the Human Rights\nCouncil, Sri Lanka asked. Sri Lanka has only defeated a secessionist   campaign, and acted within its legal rights to\ndefend its territorial integrity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We  leave it to the members and observers of this\nCouncil to make their own judgment on whether Sri Lanka represents a situation\nthat warrants the urgent attention of this Council, or if this campaign is\nessentially a political move. It is regrettable that countries with vested\ninterests seek to achieve their political ambitions using the Human Rights\nCouncil as a tool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Council must hold the scales even. The vote on this Resolution\nprovides an opportunity for the member countries of the United Nations to see\nwhether the Human Rights Council is staying within its objectives. We urge that\nthis resolution be rejected by the Council and be brought to closure, concluded\nSri Lanka .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Resolution\nwas put to the vote.  UNHRC announced, The\nUnited Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted by a vote, the draft\nResolution titled Promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights\nin Sri Lanka\u201d  A\/HRC\/46\/L.1\/Rev.1) tabled\nby a \u2018Core Group\u2019 of countries, on March 22, 2021 during its 46th Session. Out\nof the 47 Members of the Council, 22 countries voted in favour, 11 voted\nagainst and 14 abstained, stated UNHRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In favour<\/strong> (22):\nArgentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Bulgaria, C\u00f4te d’Ivoire, Czech\nRepublic, Denmark, Fiji, France, Germany, Italy, Malawi, Marshall Islands,\nMexico, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Korea, Ukraine, United Kingdom and\nUruguay. Against<\/strong> (11):\nBangladesh, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Pakistan, Philippines, Russian\nFederation, Somalia, Uzbekistan and Venezuela. Abstentions<\/strong> (14):\nBahrain, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Japan, Libya,\nMauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Senegal, Sudan and Togo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\ncommented on the result. It is clear from the voting result that the majority\nof the Council did not support this Resolution. There was significant support\nfor Sri Lanka . China , Russia and Pakistan  voted against the Resolution.  So did Bangladesh, Philippians and Venezuela.,\nIndia abstained. We are aware that some of the countries which stood by Sri\nLanka at this vote withstood immense pressure on them in doing so. We thank all\ncountries who braved   pressure to reject\nthe Resolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marshall\nIslands  voted against Sri Lanka .\nMarshall Elands has always followed the United States at the United Nations and,\nvoted with USA. on all key issues .in December 2017, the Marshall Islands was\none of just nine countries (including the United States and Israel) to vote\nagainst a motion adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)\ncondemning the United States\u2019 recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of\nIsrael.  Marshall Islands  recognizes Taiwan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neville\nLadduwahetty  pointed out that the UNHCR\nfollowed the method of counting used in the Committees of the General\nAssembly.   Resolution was approved on a simple\nmajority, ignoring the abstaining votes. Since the votes for the Resolution\nwere less than half the 47-members in the Council,  the Resolution has been adopted despite the\nfact that more than half decided not to support it . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the\n15-member Security Council requires nine affirmative votes for a decision to be\nadopted. Elsewhere,  organizations require\nhalf plus one for a decision to be adopted. Simple majorities in most\nParliaments require half plus one of its elected members for a Bill to become\nLaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNHRC should\nrevised its voting regulations. The current practice allows Resolutions to be\nadopted by less than half the number in the Council. This is not good enough a\nthreshold for a UN institution as important as the Human Rights Council where\nmuch is at stake for all States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Human\nRights Council is in a league by itself. Since its decisions impact on nearly\nevery aspect of human life, the procedures and practices it adopts should be  sound. Sri Lanka should take the initiative to\ntable a Resolution in the General Assembly calling on the Human Rights Council\nto take a fresh approach in the adoption of Resolutions. Even if the abstaining\nvotes are not recognized, no Resolution should be adopted without half plus one\nof its members casting an affirmative vote . (<\/strong>Continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Sri Lanka had plenty to say  at Geneva when the UNHRC Resolution 46\/1 \u2018 Promoting reconciliation ,accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka\u201d came up for   approval in Geneva in February 2021. Sri Lanka said   that the Resolution violated Article 2(7) of the United Nations Charter, and acts beyond the mandate given in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114487","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=114487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}