No UNHRC resolutions against SL since 2015: Mangala

19 March 2019

In response to Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa calling for the withdrawal of Sri Lanka’s co-sponsorship to the UNHRC resolution, Finace Minister Mangala Samaraweera said today there was no resolution against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC since 2015, but those, adopted since then, were to work together with the country’s partner nations in the world so that its citizens benefitted from the best expertise in the world.

In a statement, he said Sri Lanka worked with all its citizens to set up processes that would help put behind decades of distrust, violence and impunity and promote, protect and advance the human rights of all our citizens

“As a result of Sri Lanka taking charge of discharging its own responsibilities towards its own citizens, international efforts became focused thereafter on support for Sri Lanka’s efforts. Contrary to Mahinda’s narrative, there are no resolutions AGAINST Sri Lanka in the Human Rights Council anymore. In his statement, as usual aimed at hoodwinking the masses, he assumes a commanding and almost martial tone. Packing it with misinformation to mislead the public, he seems to forget the small detail that he is no longer the President or even the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka – fake or otherwise. As the citizens of our country – Asia’s oldest democracy – remember very well, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s attempts to usurp the position of Prime Minister a few months ago failed miserably in the face of the determined resistance of our citizens and our independent institutions including our judiciary. My recommendation to Mahinda would be, in true friendship: lets put aside airs. It really is impossible to engage in constructive dialogue if you give instructions and orders on policy to a government that is trying very hard to fix the several troubles that you yourself, your close advisers and those you appointed to high positions during your time as President created, especially since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009.

And let us be serious. Any advice on policy must be based on facts, not on fake or exaggerated assertions, which a quick scan of Mahinda’s statement reveals:

The opening line of Mahinda’s statement asserts that “The government has announced that they will co-sponsor yet another resolution against Sri Lanka.”

What Mahinda says is false. There is no resolution “against” Sri Lanka, and there has been no resolution “against” Sri Lanka since 2015. In 2009, the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government spearheaded a resolution in the Human Rights Council calling it a ‘victory resolution’ and got it adopted by a division in the Council. The Rajapaksa Government included in that Resolution, the Joint Statement between the Government and the United Nations that was adopted during UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit and also commitment to the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Non-implementation of this resolution adopted by a vote led to a series of resolutions which the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government claimed to boycott but could not stop from being adopted,” he said.