The Sri Lankan government will submit its formal protest against the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, reported the Daily Mirror.

The Sri Lankan government will be sending a letter to the High Commissioner, accusing Pillay of violating her mandate and the UN Charter.

One of those believed to be working on this campaign is Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative in Geneva, Tamara Kunanayakam.

Interestingly, Kunanayakam has reportedly been asked by her government to resign from her current position.

However, refusing to resign, Ms Kunanyakam argued that such a move would "suggest instability" in Sri Lanka's diplomacy, in letter to the external affairs minister G.L. Peiris

See report by Daily Mirror here.

Extracts of the letter, dated 1st May 2012, are reproduced below:

“It is inevitable that my removal from Geneva will be interpreted as a sanction by the Sri Lankan people and also by the diplomatic community in Geneva. It will send the wrong signal to our friends and allies in Asia, Latin America and Africa, who have expressed their support and solidarity toward Sri Lanka. They might think that the decision was the result of external pressures, a punishment to those in Geneva who dared resist.”

“Removing one of the very few Tamils heading diplomatic missions abroad will allow questioning of the bona fides of the Government’s commitment to reconciliation, will reinforce extremist elements on all sides, and validate the argument that mine was only a token appointment.”