Sri Lanka President takes U turn over UNHRC pledge, says country needs more time

Taking a U-turn on Sri Lanka's pledges to the UNHRC over war-time atrocities against Tamils, President Maithripala Sirisena said on Wednesday the country needs "space" to settle its own problems "without interference" over the issue. Sirisena also announced that he would be sending his own team to counter the allegations against Sri Lanka at the ongoing UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva.

Sri Lankan government troops were accused of killing at least 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the final months of the island's 37-year guerrilla war that ended in May 2009 with the death of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. "On March 22 and 23, our issue will be taken up. I am sending my representatives," Sirisena told reporters.

Sirisena, who after coming to power in January 2015 had pledged to ensure accountability for war-time abuses, said Sri Lanka had moved on after the end of the separatist war now for over 10 years. "We need space to settle our own problems without interference," Sirisena said.

His team would be appealing on behalf of the island government at the 40th session of the UN rights body. The UNHRC resolutions since 2013 had censured Sri Lanka on its alleged human rights abuses. They called for probing of rights abuses by both LTTE and the government troops by setting up an international investigation.

The current session is expected to review Sri Lanka’s progress since the resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka along with the US in 2015. Although Sri Lanka has taken some steps to implement the resolution, the Tamil community has complained about the slow speed and the inadequacy of the progress. The setting up of the office on missing persons, a reparations commission and the move to set up a truth and reconciliation commission are being seen as steps in the right direction to achieve reconciliation.

Sirisena sending his own men, who are not ministers, adds an interesting dimension to the issue as he and his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe are clashing with each other over the issue of governance. In October last year, Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe in a move seen as unconstitutional. The prime minister was later restored after the Supreme Court intervened.

The Tamil parties who are sceptical of the government’s sincerity in meeting the UNHRC implementation have called for the setting up of a UN rights body office in Sri Lanka to monitor the progress. They urge that the government should not be given any more time to implement the resolution. According to reports, the United National Party Government under Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has ignored a stand taken by President Sirisena and decided to co-sponsor a roll-over resolution at the ongoing 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

(With inputs from agencies.)