Sri Lanka’s foreign minister told Economy Next that he expected that a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for mass atrocities would be passed, despite lobbying member states to water down the text of the document.

“This is nothing unexpected,” Ali Sabry said from Geneva. “There was so much pressure on some countries to vote in favour of the resolution. So we knew this… The composition has changed and some of our friendly nations are not there and some abstained.”

Reacting to the latest UN resolution on Sri Lanka, UK Minister of State for the Middle East, South Asia, and the UN, Lord Tariq Ahmad said it was "integral to establish truth and achieve lasting justice and reconciliation."

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted resolution 51/L1 on Sri Lanka yesterday, which will “extend and reinforce the capacity of the Office of the High Commissioner to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve” evidence that may be used in future war crimes trials.

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister slammed an upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council resolution that is due to be voted on today and blamed the Tamil diaspora for “heavy lobbying” for such moves at the global body.

Speaking to Sri Lankan journalists this week, Ali Sabry reportedly claimed that the member states driving the resolution “are greatly influenced by domestic-level lobbying by pressure groups from the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora”.

The UN Human Rights Council has adopted resolution 51/L1 on Sri Lanka, which will “extend and reinforce the capacity of the Office of the High Commissioner to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve” evidence that may be used in future war crimes trials.

The resolution was passed with 20 votes in favour, 7 against and 20 abstentions.

As the United Nations Human Rights Council votes on yet another resolution on Sri Lanka, students at the University of Jaffna said the move “completely ignored” calls demanding international accountability for “atrocity crimes committed against the Tamil people".

In a statement released the day before the UN vote, the University Students’ Union at the University of Jaffna said their hopes of justice for atrocity crimes “were dashed by this resolution”.

A remembrance ceremony was held in Jaffna yesterday to commemorate 35 years since 12 LTTE cadres committed suicide, after being arrested by the Indian Peace Keeping Force and were in the process of being taken to Colombo for interrogation.

The Sri Lankan president’s office claimed the European Commission has assured its support to Colombo to “overcome” the ongoing economic crisis, and that it will make a decision on the GSP+  trade concession “very soon”, amidst calls for the benefit to be removed from Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force launched tear gas at Tamil fishermen, leaving at least one person hospitalised in Mullaitivu.

Responding to a question over the potential imposition of sanctions of Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence, Shavendra Silva and other Sri Lankan military officials, Minister of State, Jesse Norman, maintained the British government would “keep the situation in Sri Lanka under close review, including in relation to human rights and accountability”.

In his response, he raised the prospect of sanctions noting that: