{"id":86688,"date":"2019-03-23T15:53:33","date_gmt":"2019-03-23T22:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=86688"},"modified":"2019-03-23T15:53:33","modified_gmt":"2019-03-23T22:53:33","slug":"geneva-co-sponsorship-aka-repetition-of-the-blunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/03\/23\/geneva-co-sponsorship-aka-repetition-of-the-blunder\/","title":{"rendered":"GENEVA CO-SPONSORSHIP AKA REPETITION OF THE BLUNDER"},"content":{"rendered":"

Udaya P Gammanpila<\/strong> Courtesy The Ceylon Today<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka dated 01.10.2015 and bearing \nNo. 23\/1 was brought by the USA. It is now public knowledge that Sri \nLanka is the only nation in the world which co-sponsored a resolution \nagainst itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had been under tremendous pressure for the last\n three years to implement the resolution in full because of the \nco-sponsorship. Sri Lanka had a golden opportunity to come out of this \ndeath-trap when the US withdrew from the UNHRC calling it a politically \nbiased cesspool.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n


Sri Lanka should have withdrawn from the \nresolution quoting the allegations levelled by the US.  However, the \nGovernment disappointed the nation by its failure to grab this \nopportunity.  In contrast, Tamil separatists displayed their unwavering \ncourage by sticking to their cause despite being deserted by the world \nsolitary superpower. When the US deserted them, they handed over the \nleadership of the anti-Sri Lanka campaign to the UK which was not only a\n former superpower but also the last colonial master of Sri Lanka. \nAccordingly, the UK tabled on 22 March 2019, a new anti-Sri Lanka \nresolution numbered as 40\/23 at the UNHRC at its 40th session with the \nsponsorship of Canada, Germany, Montenegro and North Macedonia.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n


New resolution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


The\n new resolution has revived the unfulfilled recommendations of the \nresolution proposed by the US.  Further, it brought Sri Lanka under the \nsupervision of the UNHRC for two years.  Sri Lanka has been notified to \nimplement the recommendations contained in the report tabled at the 40th\n session by the High Commissioner for Human Rights which has Reference<\/p>\n\n\n\n


No.\n A\/HRC\/40\/23. Paragraph 68(C) of the High Commissioner\u2019s report has \nreiterated the importance of establishing Hybrid Courts to investigate \nalleged war crimes. Sri Lanka agreed to investigate alleged war crimes \nwith the participation of foreigners as judges, prosecutors and \ninvestigators. However, the Government failed to honour the undertaking \nbecause strong protest emerged from the public.  This obligation has \nbeen revived by the new resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Lack of progress<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


The\n High Commissioner has drawn her attention to the lack of progress in \ncases filed against former Army Commander, Jagath Jayasuriya in Brazil \nand Colombia under universal jurisdiction.  In Paragraph 72(C), she has \nurged member States to prosecute Sri Lankan war heroes for war crimes in\n their respective States.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n


Because of this request, Sri \nLankan war heroes are now in grave danger in any country outside Sri \nLanka, especially in countries which have admitted universal \njurisdiction.  She has grossly violated our sovereignty by interfering \nwith internal affairs having criticised the appointment of Major General\n Shavendra Silva as the Chief of Staff of the Army.  He has not been \nfound guilty by any Court.  The only \u2018crime\u2019 committed by him was saving\n lives of millions by eradication of terrorism by risking his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The\n High Commissioner has commented in her report about the Government\u2019s \nfailure to identify and punish the persons responsible for the murder of\n Lasantha Wickrematunga.  Unresolved murders are not exclusive to Sri \nLanka. It is a situation that can be found in any country. Lasantha was \nmurdered in 2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, President John F Kennedy was murdered \nin 1963.  The US has failed to identify the culprits of the Kennedy \nassassination for the last 56 years despite its boasts of having the \nmost advanced technology in the world.  The High Commissioner has never \nmentioned about this failure of the US Government in any of her reports,\n clearly demonstrating duplicity of the UNHRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Although the \nHigh Commissioner has yelled at Sri Lanka for several isolated incidents\n including the transfer of a Police Officer, she has decided to be \nsilent on the gravest violation of human rights, ie, postponement of \nElections. The Government had postponed Local Authority Elections for \nthree years. Provincial Council Elections are now overdue by 18 months. \nWhen the Government does not hold Elections, over fifteen million people\n lose their franchise and thereby their freedom of expression.  Hence, \nthe High Commissioner should have paid the highest attention to Election\n postponement.  However, she had been cautious to avoid this important \nissue displaying her political bias.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n


The Sri Lankan \nGovernment is more responsible than the High Commissioner for the \nUNHRC\u2019s anti-Sri Lanka attitude.  When Tamil separatists level baseless \nallegations against Sri Lanka, the Government should have countered \nthose. Instead, the Government unconditionally admits to these \nallegations.  It may be pertinent to mention here the Government\u2019s \nreaction to Lord Naseby\u2019s report on war crime allegations. Lord Naseby \nis a prominent and respectable personality in the UK which has brought \nthe latest resolution against Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  After analysing war \ncrime allegations, he has produced a report concluding that a number of \ncausalities during the final phase of the war did not exceed 5,000 and \nit is within the norm for such a number in this kind of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The\n Sri Lankan Government should have used the Naseby Report to counter war\n crime allegations and form world opinion favourable to Sri Lanka. \nUnfortunately, the Government considered the report as an irritant to \nits position. Hence, the Government did not bother to table this \nvaluable report before the UNHRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Rejected<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


The\n Foreign Ministry rejected the charges against the Government in the \nHigh Commissioner\u2019s report, by issuing a Media release. Dr Sarath \nAmunugama, a member of Sri Lankan delegation to the UNHRC heavily \ncriticised the report.  Meanwhile, the Government has co-sponsored the \nresolution which appreciates the report. If the Government does not \naccept the report, how can it co-sponsor a resolution which appreciates \nthe report? The co-sponsorship has negated the Government\u2019s criticism on\n the contents of the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The nation should punish the \nruling party at the forthcoming election for repeating in 2019, the \nblunder of co-sponsorship committed in 2015.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Udaya P Gammanpila Courtesy The Ceylon Today The UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka dated 01.10.2015 and bearing No. 23\/1 was brought by the USA. It is now public knowledge that Sri Lanka is the only nation in the world which co-sponsored a resolution against itself. We had been under tremendous pressure for the last three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86688","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=86688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86688\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}