Sri Lanka retreats from UNHRC spotlight

Awaits session with low-key strategy

• No high profile delegation this time 
• Next session to start on September 11 and continue till October 13
• Sri Lanka’s case will  be discussed on September 11

 By Kelum Bandara   

Sri Lanka will have a low profile approach to the upcoming session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) scheduled to start next month, Daily Mirror learns.   
The UNHRC adopted the resolution 51/1 on Sri Lanka last year. The resolution calls for 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 fifty-third and fifty-fifth sessions, and a written update at its fifty-fourth session and a comprehensive report that includes further options for advancing accountability at its fifty-seventh session, both to be discussed in the context of an interactive dialogue.  

The content of the new resolution is largely based on the previous 46/1 resolution. It calls for further strengthening of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to implement the evidence gathering mechanism on human rights and accountability issues in Sri Lanka. It also seeks to examine the impact of the economic crisis on human rights in Sri Lanka.   

Daily Mirror learns that the government will not send any top level delegation to lobby for support this time, and leaves it in the hands of Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva to engage with the respective countries. The government has come to terms with the reality that it cannot secure the required number to defeat any such resolution with the UN system due to lack of numbers.  

However, the government has repeatedly rejected the resolution which calls for external intervention to probe human rights and accountability issues in Sri Lanka. The next session will start on September 11 and continue till October 13.  Sri Lanka’s case will also be discussed on September 11.   
Sri Lanka has, however, taken domestic steps to bring about reconciliation.