(UTV | GENEVA) – The new resolution on Sri Lanka presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva will be taken up for a vote today.
The Core Group at the Human Rights Council presented a 19-point resolution on Sri Lanka yesterday.
The final draft of the new resolution on Sri Lanka was submitted to the 51st regular session of the UN Human Rights Council along with the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.
The draft resolution, titled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ was initially sponsored by the Core Group on Sri Lanka including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
The final 19-point resolution has been signed by Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden and Turkey in addition to the countries that initially sponsored it.
The resolution requests the Office of the High Commissioner to enhance its monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on progress in reconciliation and accountability, and on the impact of the economic crisis and corruption on human rights, and to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its 53rd and 55th sessions, and a written update at its 54th session and a comprehensive report that includes further options for advancing accountability at its 57th session, both to be discussed in the context of an interactive dialogue.
Accordingly, the resolution, ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ is scheduled to be taken up for a vote later today.
Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry yesterday said Sri Lanka will get a “significantly lesser” number of favourable votes at the UN Human Rights Council. Minister Sabry, currently in Geneva, told a media conference, “The number of votes will be significantly lesser. We have to be realistic.”
He added observing that the voting pattern is not a fair reflection of how all members think about Sri Lanka.