UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka

United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) has adopted a resolution titled “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka”.

The resolution said that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has deteriorated under the current administration. Further, the resolution also mentions that the rights defenders and ethnic and religious minorities are facing problems.

Further, the UNHRC resolution provides the UNHRC chief mandate to collect and preserve evidence of crimes related to Sri Lanka’s civil war. The Civil War ended in 2009 with the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels.

The UNHRC resolution was adopted after 22 states of the 47-member Council voted in its favour.

Eleven countries including Bangladesh, China, and Pakistan voted against the resolution.

On the other hand, 14 countries, including India, Indonesia, Japan, and Nepal abstained.

Sri Lanka rejected the UNHRC resolution. It said that the resolution cannot be implemented without the consent and acceptance of the country concerned.

India attempted to preserve its diplomatic space. Further, India wants to contain persistent Chinese influence in Sri Lanka.

At the same time, India is also maintaining its support for the Tamil minority to achieve equality, justice, dignity and peace.

India has never supported externally mandated investigative mechanisms. India voted in favour of a credible investigation into human rights violation in 2012. But India mentioned the importance of Sri Lanka’s acceptance to solve the human rights dispute.

India has emphasised meaningful decentralization to meet Tamil aspirations. Also, India demanded the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka.

India’s concerns in Sri Lanka have been different from the rest of the international community. India is well-informed by a sense of the long-term well-being of the Tamils. Hence, India stresses devolution rather than accountability.

India has its own limitations in expressing disappointment over Sri Lanka’s stand on Human Rights violation. Reasons such as the Chinese presence in the Sri Lankan region can be one of them.