A delegation from the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) met with the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and a Sri Lankan government minister, ahead of the upcoming UN Human Rights Council session later this month.
Sri Lanka is due to be discussed at the UN Human Rights Council, where the UK has said it will lead on a new resolution for accountability on the island. A resolution co-sponsored by Colombo in 2015, mandated a hybrid court with international judges, yet no such mechanism has been set up.
“We appreciate the work of @UNHumanRights to support the government and independent @HRCSriLanka to further reconciliation, human rights, and accountability in #SriLanka," tweeted US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz on Tuesday, after meeting with the delegation.
Sri Lanka’s Sagala Ratnayaka, Chief of Staff to prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, also met with the OHCHR delegation in Colombo.
The OHCHR delegation which attended the meeting included Georgette Gagnon, Director of Field Operations and Technical Cooperation for the UN Human Rights Office, and Mona Rishmawi, Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch at the UN Human Rights Office, reports Colombo Telegraph.
Though Britain said the new resolution on Sri Lanka will “seek to extend further the process established by the HRC in 2015”, several Tamil organisations have criticised giving Colombo more time when little progress has taken place on accountability over the last four years.
Tamils across the North-East and in the diaspora have instead called for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court, so justice can be served for violations of international law.
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