GENEVA – The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday (9), adopted by consensus a resolution on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, which on September 21 elected a new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The resolution renews for another year the mandate of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to report on ongoing violations and to collect evidence of past and current rights violations and crimes under international law committed in Sri Lanka for use in future prosecutions, including those committed in the 1983-2009 civil war. The resolution was presented by a core group consisting of Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Lucy McKernan, deputy Geneva director at Human Rights Watch said the Human Rights Council’s resolution on Sri Lanka was important for efforts to uphold fundamental rights in the country and to seek justice for past atrocities. McKernan added that international action was needed in Sri Lanka so long as victims and their families were denied justice.
She called on the new government of President Dissanayake to reveal what happened to thousands of victims of enforced disappearance, end security agencies’ harassment of victims and human rights defenders seeking justice, and open credible investigations into alleged crimes that previous governments blocked.
-HRW/ENCL
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