Sri Lanka reaffirms commitment to achieving reconciliation at UN Human Rights Council

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath has underlined the commitment and the political will of the new government for transformation in Sri Lanka and to create a new political culture to advance the rights and well-being of all citizens.

The Foreign Minister made these remarks while addressing the 60th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, during the Interactive Dialogue (ID) on Sri Lanka yesterday (08).

The Minister highlighted the progress made within a short period through the domestic processes towards building national unity and reconciliation while urging the Council to allow Sri Lanka time and space to achieve this objective.

A total of 43 countries spoke during the Interactive Dialogue including Kuwait on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, the Philippines, Japan, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vanuatu, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nepal, India, Zimbabwe, Viet Nam, China, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Türkiye, Belarus, Egypt, Venezuela, the Maldives, Cuba, South Sudan, the Sudan, the Russian Federation and Burundi.

Expressing solidarity with Sri Lanka, the above countries;

• Welcomed Sri Lanka’s continued engagement with the Human Right Council and the High Commissioner’s visit as a sign of the country’s enhanced cooperation with the Council;
• Acknowledged the significant developments and tangible progress, including ongoing legislative reforms in the country and encouraged the HRC and international community to support Sri Lanka in its nationally-owned processes;
• Questioned the allocation of resources to the external mechanism on Sri Lanka when vital mandates in the Council risk being unfulfilled due to resource constraints; 
• Emphasized that externally imposed parallel processes risk polarization;
• Stated that imposition of country specific mechanisms on targeted countries undermines the Human Rights Council’s founding principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity, and non-selectivity;
• Expressed concerns at the double standards, politicization and instrumentalization of human rights to interfere into the internal affairs of countries;
• Underlined the importance of constructive dialogue and cooperation within the Council to reach productive results in the promotion of human rights;
• Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk appreciated the opportunity, to visit Sri Lanka in June this year, and to have open exchanges across the political spectrum, religious leaders and communities, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism in a statement.

Sri Lanka’s delegation to the 60th Human Rights Council in Geneva was led by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath and comprised Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva Ambassador Himalee Arunatilaka, Director General/United Nations and Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dayani Mendis and the diplomatic officers of the Permanent Mission in Geneva.