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Sri Lanka claims victory at UN despite failing to halt resolution

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister addressed a press conference in Colombo earlier today, where he claimed that a UN resolution on accountability in Sri Lanka had “failed”, despite it passing just hours earlier with 22 votes in favour to 14 votes against and 11 abstentions.

In a last minute press conference, Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters that the resolution was “a waste of money” and “highly uncalled for”.

“Without the consent and acceptance of the country concerned, it cannot be implemented,” he continued.

The foreign minister also declared that the resolution had “failed,” as he claimed Sri Lanka had the support of the majority of the council counting the abstentions and votes against the resolution. Gunawardena added that the supposed "failure" of the resolution was "a very happy moment for us".

He went on to tweet his thanks to the member states that abstained or voted against the move.

The resolution will mandate the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to "collect" as well as "consolidate, analyse and preserve” evidence that could be used in future war crimes trials.

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