Sri Lankan presidential envoy rejects resolution as "highly intrusive" and calls states to vote against the text. PHOTO: AFP
GENEVA: Pakistan voted against a resolution adopted by the United Nations urging Sri Lanka to carry out credible investigations into the killings and disappearances during its nearly 30-year long civil war that ended in 2009.
The 47-member Geneva forum adopted the resolution with 25 countries in favour, including India. Thirteen countries opposed it, including Pakistan. Eight abstained and one delegation was absent.
Rights groups welcomed the continuing spotlight on Sri Lanka but regretted that the council failed to establish an international investigation into wartime crimes.
Sri Lankan presidential envoy Mahinda Samarasinghe took the floor during Thursday's debate to reject the US resolution as "highly intrusive" and call for states to vote against the text.
"Why this preoccupation with Sri Lanka, why this inordinate and disproportionate level of interest in a country that has successfully ended a 30-year conflict against terrorism and has demonstrated so much progress in a relatively short space of time?" Samarasinghe said.
Referring to Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, he said: "We have every confidence in our domestic processes and mechanism."
Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who led the military to victory at the end of the conflict against Tamil Tiger rebels, said this week he was ready to face questions about allegations of war crimes.
Resolutions such as that brought by the United States are not binding, but the scrutiny by the UN Human Rights Council maintains pressure on the government to pursue perpetrators of crimes committed in the conflict against Tamil Tiger rebels.
"Sri Lanka must take meaningful action on reconciliation and accountability and address growing concerns over the deteriorating human rights situation," US ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe told the Geneva talks.
Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final months of a war that began in 1983 as government troops advanced on the last stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for an independent homeland, a UN panel has said.
The panel said it had "credible allegations" that troops and the Tamil Tigers both carried out atrocities and war crimes, but singled out the government for most of the responsibility for the deaths. The government rejects the allegation.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a report last month that Sri Lanka was failing to investigate alleged wartime atrocities committed by government forces and that activists and opposition politicians were still being killed or abducted.
COMMENTS (16)
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its to demand a fair investigation... n pakis against that. yeah they couldn't think of anything like fair n free elections , unbiased investigations and justice. ill minds~
And who trained Tamil tigers? India. Who then send his own armies to Srilanka and extended civil war? India. So 1st India created civil war and then extended and now crying about human right abuses? Seriously Indians are delusional.
I think Pakistan did the right thing! Here the United States and India is playing double standards. On one hand, US has human rights abuse allegations against it during the Iraq war. On the other hand, it is trying to compel Sri Lanka to investigate for the human rights abuse. What a double standard!!! India, in one hand, armed, and financed LTTE during the tenure of former premier Indira Gandhi, but after Rajiv Gandhi assumed premiership after the assassination of Indira, he reversed the course and sent troops to Sri Lanka to crush the rebels, what a double standard in India's part too! Whatever the US is doing is doing because Sri Lanka refused to host US naval base in their land!!!
@g antanu: It's an internal matter of Iraq and the US so mind your own business. Unless you're a hypocrite, that is. I'm also aware of how dumb that sounds. Hint hint, nudge nudge.
@gp65: it was internal matter of sri lanka... and what about US.. which slauhtered a million iraqis on fake allegations? dont be a slave to US haemogamy....
With Pakistan's dark history of genocide in Bangladesh it is not surprising that it has decided to support its partner in crime. It had to do in case the UN has a resolution in future to debate the dark history of the land of the Pure. It will seek Sri Lanka's help to oppose the resolution.
@viv: "so u people dont feel for our tamil people?"
What Sri Lanka did was horrible. I am 100% in support of the Tamils. In fact, the resolution should have been even tighter. What I meant was, it was good for Pakistan as now Sri Lanka will be more anti-India.
Well said Sajid!
@Sajid Iqbal: pak does aginst what india does in favour of...we cant b friends for atleast 100 years
@Rafi Ka Deewana: so u people dont feel for our tamil people?
@Sajid Iqbal: "The awkward moment when “U.S” brings such kind of resolution and India endorses it."
About 100,000 Hindu Tamili civilians got killed and many had family ties in India? So why is it awkward?
There is no surprise as in the history of Pakistan, only recently the parliament has completed the full 5 years. Pakistan is regarded as a non-democratic nation and no one believes in democracy and justice will count Pakistan's votes!
@Afzal: "Why Pakistan always found itself on wrong side of the history?"
Because Pakistan goes opposite to India. In this case, though, it's a good move as this will bring Pakistan close to Sri Lanka, and hence, to China.
Why Pakistan always found itself on wrong side of the history?
The awkward moment when "U.S" brings such kind of resolution and India endorses it.