SJB: 15 out of 17 pages of UNHRC report target GR

By Saman Indrajith

Fifteen pages of 17-and-a-half-page UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution against Sri Lanka, adopted on Tuesday, contained attacks on democracy and human rights violations under the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Chief Opposition Whip and Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament yesterday.

Speaking after Leader of the House Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena tabled the UNHRC resolution, the Chief Government Whip asked the Minister to read the resolution in full.

“The Leader of the House mentioned the resolution but he has not read it. We request him to read it if possible.

This resolution is a 17- and-a-half-page document. Of those pages only two-and-a-half pages refer to the incidents during the war against terrorism. The rest, that means 15 pages contain instances of deterioration of democracy, threats to media freedom, harassment of minorities etc., under the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.”

Kiriella also said that incumbent Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa first got the UNHRC to intervene in the country’s affairs. “He did that in 1989 as an MP. He was the first to take an internal issue to the international forum when he went to Geneva with a list of missing people. Today these people are talking of solving the issues diplomatically.”