Vote against resolution on SL; Dinesh urges UNHRC member states

COLOMBO (News1st): Sri Lanka's foreign minister Dinesh Gunawardana has called on members states of the UN Human Rights Council to vote against the resolution against Sri Lanka. He made these remarks while addressing the 46th UN Human Rights Council sessions via video conferencing technology on Tuesday. "We believe that the extent to which the resources and time of this council has been utilized on Sri Lanka is unwarranted and carries a discouraging message to the sovereign states of the global south," Gunawardana said. The UN Core Group is set to table a resolution against Sri Lanka in line with the annual report of the Officer of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published recently. "It is regrettable that despite the spirit of cooperation with the HRC and its mechanism, elements working against Sri Lanka intend to table another country-specific resolution based on the OHCHR report," the minister noted. He insisted that the members of the UN Human Rights Council should be left to decide whether Sri Lanka represents a situation that warrants the urgent attention of this council. "This rejected report by Sri Lanka has unjustifiably broadened its scope and mandate further incorporating many ... matters that are essentially domestic in any self-respecting sovereign country," Gunawardana noted.