COLOMBO, Feb 26 (NNN-SLNEWS) – Sri Lanka rejected a report submitted by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, calling for accountability against allegations of human rights violations, allegedly committed in the island country during and after a civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels, local media reported yesterday.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena, speaking at an interactive dialogue over the UN report, said, Sri Lanka rejected the high commissioner’s report, which had incorporated many issues of governance and matters that were essentially domestic, for any self-respecting, sovereign country.
He said the high commissioner’s report was in complete violation of Article 2(7) of the UN Charter that stated, “Nothing contained in the Charter shall authorise the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.”
“In addition to the progress made since last Mar, Sri Lanka provided written comments on instances of erroneous information, misconceived and arbitrary assessments in the report … This deprived Sri Lanka and members of equal visibility of Sri Lanka’s views on the report,” he said.
Bachelet, in her report, called on the UN Human Rights Council to explore new ways, to advance various types of accountability at the international level, for all parties in Sri Lanka, who have allegedly suffered from rights violations, during and after, the country’s 30-year civil conflict, which ended in May, 2009, and seek redress for victims.
The Sri Lankan government rejected allegations that government forces committed human rights violations, during and after, the civil war, and said, it is open to engaging constructively with the UN, and the international community in mutually-agreed areas, in conformity with Sri Lanka’s constitution and in keeping with domestic priorities and policies.– NNN-SLNEWS
