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UNHRC Elections and UPR: Ambassador
Dr. Jayatilleka clarifies
The Permanent Mission of
Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva
27th May 2008
Friends,
There seems to be an element of confusion in the Sri Lankan media and
in public opinion concerning recent events at the United Nations, specifically,
concerning the elections to the United Nations Human Rights Council
in Geneva. These elections did not take place in Geneva. So, there was
no election in Geneva that was lost by us. The elections to the Human
Rights Council take place at the United Nations General Assembly in
New York City in the United States and certainly, we suffered a setback
there.
What did happen in Geneva was something else altogether: the Universal
Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, in which all countries
are reviewed collectively by their peers. Now, the UPR experiment took
place on May 13th concerning Sri Lanka and culminated on the 19th of
May. And as the record shows, only a handful of Western states were
sharply critical of Sri Lanka. Of the overwhelming majority of those
states that took the floor - there were 56 in number though 70 had inscribed
to speak - the overwhelming majority spoke very much in favour of Sri
Lanka. They were very supportive; there was a very clear majority of
support and sympathy for Sri Lanka. There was also an intermediate group
of well-intentioned and constructive critics.
So, I think we should clarify this confusion about the election to
the Human Rights Council, which took place in New York, and the Universal
Periodic Review, which took place in Geneva. Now, having suffered the
set back of the loss of the membership, it is possible that anti-Sri
Lankan forces will seek to move a resolution or special session in Geneva
at the Human Rights Council. But, with or without the membership status,
we are quite determined and convinced that we can defeat any such anti
Sri Lankan moves here in the Human Right Council in Geneva.
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