Sri Lanka has rejected a draft resolution tabled at the UN Human Rights Council.

Tamara Kunanayakam, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, criticised the move by the US.

Ms Kunanayakam said that Sri Lanka is working hard to convince the Human Rights Council to vote against the resolution.

“The UK sees a political settlement, respect for human rights and accountability for alleged war crimes as being essential elements in post-conflict reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

As Sri Lanka struggles to fend off a critical resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission, international pressure on Sri Lanka is coalescing on three key demands.

International actors are demanding that Sri Lanka implements reforms to usher in good governance, credibly investigates and prosecutes those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity and finally meets Tamil demands for meaningful self government.

While the substance of these demands is entirely reasonable and plausible, the presumption that Sri Lanka might somehow meet these expectations is not.

For if Sri Lanka really was capable of such enlightened behaviour then why has its post independence history been one of relentlessly escalating ethnic antagonism and brutality, culminating in the bloodbath of May 2009? What explains the ongoing militarised repression of the Tamil speaking regions?

The very need for such overt international insistence on measures that are patently necessary reveals precisely why all such pressure is futile.

One of the parties of Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition has called for the prosecution of the Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, and 30 other members of the clergy who have signed a letter critical of the government.

The JHU, a Buddhist nationalist party, accused the Bishop of sympathising with Tamil separatism, for his letter that criticised the LLRC and called on the UN Human Rights Commission to pass a resolution to put pressure on Sri Lanka.

The letter reveals a growing rift along ethnic lines within the Catholic clergy on the island.

Tamil NGO delegates were subject to intimidation tactics by members of the Sri Lankan delegation reported the news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP), on Thursday.

Delegates were targeted with photography and video inside the main plenary room at the UN, and during side line event hosted by Sri Lanka. A formal complaint has been lodged with security officers, AFP reported.

Médecins Sans Frontières have refuted comments made by Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa that the organisation was allowed access in the final war zone in 2009, stating that despite repeated reuqests, access was denied.

Following comments made by the Defence Secretary to the Deccan Chronicle, MSF stated that in September 2008 they were issued a government directive asking them and other international organisations to leave Kilinochchi. They went on to state,

Writing in the New York Times, the panel of experts appointed by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon to examine the final stages of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka - Marzuki Darusman, the former attorney-general of Indonesia, Steven Ratner, a professor of law at the University of Michigan, and Yasmin Sooka, the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa - urged the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council to ensure that "Sri Lanka fulfills its responsibilities to all its people and to the rest of the world".

Addressing the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), an NGO that advocates the rights of human rights activists internationally, highlighted Sri Lanka's failure to make meaningful progress on peace and reconciliation, whilst increasing its intimidation and harrassment of those campaigning for human rights.

The US Under Secretary of State, Maria Otero, warned Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the LLRC without delay.

Speaking at the 19th UN Human Rights Session on Friday, Otero said that there can be no lasting peace without reconciliaton and accountability.

The Under Secretary reiterated the need for action at this session to 'sow the seeds of lasting peace'.

Full comment on Sri Lanka by Maria Otero: