Why involve international communities!

Sri Lanka is preparing under the new President to find solutions to all its internal problems without involving international communities. Accordingly, it plans to withdraw from co-sponsorship of Resolution 40/1 of March 2019 which also incorporates and builds on preceding Resolutions 30/1 of October 2015 and 34/1 of March 2017. However Sri Lanka is still obliged to investigate and deal with the said allegations on human rights violations.

As the new President is of the opinion that the crisis could have been solved internally, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has been assigned to convey to the international community action his government propose to take based on the mandate given by the people.

Earlier in 2009, then Head of State soon after the war ended swore to make up to the human rights violations in Sri Lanka through a joint statement delivered with Secretary General of United Nations.

That was in itself acknowledgement of the fact that human rights violations had occurred during the last stages of the civil war. It was also unraveled later by the bodies like the Lessons Commission appointed to probe into these violations. As the result the whole country is today held accountable to the international community.

The government has plans to appointment a Commission of Inquiry (COI) headed by a Justice of the Supreme Court, to review the reports of previous Sri Lankan COIs which investigated alleged violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Also to assess the status of implementation of their recommendations and to propose deliverable measures to implement them keeping in line with the new Government’s policy.

The government is expected to announce its intention to work towards the closure of the Resolution, in cooperation with the members of the UN and  is hopeful that all issues referred shall be solved internally. In addition, through due democratic and legal processes, address other outstanding concerns and to introduce institutional reforms where necessary, in a manner consistent with Sri Lanka’s obligations.