27 November 2023 09:52 am Views - 158
By Kelum Bandara
In its fresh engagement with the United Kingdom (UK) regarding the UNHRC process, Sri Lanka has categorically said that it wants equal treatment but not revisit past happenings, an official said.
The UK leads the core group of countries that proposed the resolution adopted in 2021 calling for an investigation into the allegations of human rights and accountability issues, and updated last year to reflect more on the issues arising from the economic crisis.
Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the United States are the other countries.
The Operative Paragraphs (OP) 8 of last year’s resolution seeks to continue the work initiated in the original resolution which created capacity within the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve information to support judicial and other proceedings.
When presenting the resolution, the UK said the capacity was set up in response to the lack of progress made by Sri Lanka’s domestic legal mechanisms towards accountability for past alleged gross violations of human rights.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the UK Rohitha Bogollagama discussed the future of bilateral ties when he presented the Open Copy of his Letter of Credence to Ms Victoria Busby OBE, Vice Marshal and Director of Protocol at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on November 23, 2023, before the formal and ceremonial presentation of Credentials to King Charles III.
As far as the UNHRC process is concerned, he informed the UK government that Sri Lanka only wants equal treatment but not revisiting what happened in the past.