Prez’s delegation to Geneva shows he has no faith in govt.: Dinesh

President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a separate three-member delegation to represent the country at the forthcoming UNHRC sessions in Geneva as he does not have confidence in the government, MEP MP front liner Dinesh Gunawardana said yesterday. Mr. Gunawaerdana said

President Sirisena was never in agreement with the resolution passed on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council session in September 2015.

The delegation of the president would be led by former Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama to represent Sri Lanka at the ongoing 40th session of the UNHRC in Geneva. The sessions will conclude on March 22. Other members of the committee include former minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and Northern Province Governor Prof. Suren Raghavan.

In response to the Daily Mirror, Mr. Gunawardana said the Presidential Delegation would seek the possibility of withdrawing from the UNHRC resolution passed in 2015 based on incorrect data and added the resolution's stand that 40,000 civilians were killed during the final stage of the Humanitarian Operation was hearsay.

Mr. Gunawardana told media at the Sri Lanka Foundation that the Sri Lankan Government has never taken a concerted effort to counter charges levelled against armed forces at the UNHRC on alleged human rights violations.

The allegations and the resolution came under heavy criticism once again by Baron Lord Naseby last week, he noted.

Lord Naseby has said Sri Lanka is not a country that has to be monitored by the Western countries almost every day and now is the time for closure and to let Sri Lanka stand on its own feet. (Sandun A Jayasekera)