Colombo, March 24 (Daily Mirror) – Speaking to media soon after the resolution on Sri Lanka was passed at the UNHRC, Gunawardena said that the fact that only 22 countries had voted in favour of the Resolution while 11 voted against and 14 abstained, showed that several countries were against this unfair pressure brought upon by the European and Western powers.
He further said that any resolution sponsored at the UNHRC should have the consent of the concerned country and without their approval no resolutions could be implemented. He maintained firmly that the government would not give into the unfair pressure brought upon by this new Resolution and would continue to conduct a domestic probe on allegations of human rights violations and other complaints during the war period.
“This Resolution on Sri Lanka was moved by Britain and supported by the western powers who want to dominate the global south. Our call as well as the call from several countries were that our concentration should be on COVID-19 first and as the world as a whole we should defeat the virus first. Even now vaccinations have to be provided to over 100 countries,” Mr. Gunawardena said.
“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, soon after his election promised the country to withdraw from the resolution which was co- sponsored by the previous government. Cosponsoring such a resolution was not possible.
Even my predecessor Thilak Marapana mentioned this internationally that Sri Lanka constitutionally could not go forward with that resolution. President Rajapaksa said a domestic mechanism would be implemented where a commission was appointed headed by a Supreme Court Judge to entertain any allegations by any Sri Lankan citizen during the time we were facing the brutal conflict against the LTTE which is a banned organization today in Europe, US, India and even in the UK.,” he said.
“However these western countries still want this resolution initiated leading to more dangerous objectives,” the Minister said.
Minister Gunawardena further thanked countries who had voted against the Resolution and those who had abstained from voting stating the fact that powerful countries such as India and Japan had abstained, only showed that they too were against the resolution.
He further said that Sri Lanka had been able to garner support from Latin America, South America, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and other countries across three continents who had supported the voice against domination of what the Western Powers were seeking and Sri Lanka would continue its commitment to the UN and uphold its democratic rights. (Jamila Husain)
