The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet will be presenting her Oral Update on Sri Lanka withdrawing its co-sponsorship of Resolution 40/1 of March 2019 on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’, which also incorporates and builds on preceding Resolutions 30/1 of October 2015 and 34/1 of March 2017.

Minister Gunawardena will respond to the Oral Update on Sri Lanka by the High Commissioner today (27).

He will meet then High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet tomorrow (28).

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, addressing the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday (26), had formally informed the Council Members of Sri Lanka’s decision to withdraw the co-sponsorship of resolution.

The Minister has stated that the commitments of the resolution bound the country to carry out an experiment which was impractical, unconstitutional and undeliverable.

He stated that it remains, to date, a blot on the sovereignty and the dignity of the people of Sri Lanka.

In co-sponsoring resolution 30/1, the previous government violated all democratic principles of governance declared support even before the draft text was presented, Gunawardena has pointed out.

He has said that, with cabinet approval to deliver the dictates of an international body, there was no reference to parliament on the process of undertaking and repercussions of such co-sponsorship.