EXCLUSIVE: Draft resolution no surprise, it judges intentions of the government, we will fight: Kunanayagam

Following reports that the resolution against Sri Lanka had been tabled at the UNHRC, Adaderana managed to contact Tamara Kunanayakam, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland.

While speaking to Adaderana over the phone Ms. Kunanayakam said that most developing countries and even the European Union are unhappy about the text of the draft resolution as what it tries to do is turn the Human Rights Council into a tribunal.

The transcript of the exclusive telephone conversation with Adaderana:

Today, the United States tabled the resolution or the draft resolution on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka.

But this did not come as a surprise because it was already announced a long time ago at very high levels. So it did not come as a surprise to us as it is a continuation of the same initiative.

The only thing is, it is more concrete and now we know what they are asking for.

There were a number of problems as most of the developing countries and even the European Union are not happy with the text because what they are trying to do is turn the Human Rights Council into a tribunal by taking up human rights issues that have to do with the past. It has never been done. It is creating a precedence and most countries are not happy about it because that is not the purpose of the Human Rights Council.

The other problem with it is of course that they are charging not the actions of the Sri Lankan government from the resolution, but they are asking about what steps the government will take to implement the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations, which means they are judging the intentions of the government and not the facts on the ground.

For example, this resolution speaks about equity or equitable distribution and this has nothing to do with the Human Rights Council or the mandate of the Human Rights Council.

So we are continuing to fight. We have friends around us and we are convinced of the correctness of our position. And we will fight on that basis.