 | | | | | | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
'Government only to blame' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The New York based human rights watchdog says only Sri Lankan government to blame for not getting re-elected to the UN’s most important Human Rights body. Commenting on Sri Lanka loosing the vote on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said “the Human Rights Council vote should be a wake-up call for the Sri Lankan government”. In a statement issued on Thursday, Asia director at Human Rights Watch Brad Adams said, “President Mahinda Rajapaksa hopefully will get the General Assembly’s message and start taking real action to end human rights abuses in Sri Lanka”.
HRW urged ‘Sri Lankan government to reassess its human rights policies and practices, including its rejection of an international human rights monitoring mission’. Sri Lankan Foreign Minster Rohitha Bogollagama pointed out “Sri Lanka received 101 votes despite the hostile campaign carried out by various entities”. “The fact that so many members of UN has placed their trust in Sri Lanka have makes us more determine to fully implement the pledges and commitments made at the universal periodic review of the human rights council in Geneva 19th May,” he said.
Minister Bogollagama rejects the idea suggested by International human rights organisations to allow an international monitoring mission to oversee human rights in Sri Lanka and said "the mechanism within the country is more than adequate to cater to the needs for greater protection for human rights”. 101 votes to SL Asian Human Rights Commission said that there is no doubt that Sri Lanka faces a serious terrorist threat from the LTTE. “However, the origin of the problem as does the solution lies in an honest attempt to recognise the minority rights and create a state structure where the majority and minority can coexist without considering each other a threat,” it added. Sri Lanka was voted out from UNHCR on Wednesday in New York. 101 members voted for Sri Lanka but four other countries in the region received more votes than Sri Lanka. Japan with 155 votes, Bahrain with 142 votes, South Korea with 139 votes and Pakistan with 114 votes were elected to the 47-member council. From the Asian region, East Timor was also voted out as the country only received 92 votes. | LOCAL LINKS  Sri Lanka loses UN vote21 May, 2008 | Sandeshaya "Unseat Sri Lanka" - Nobel laureates 20 May, 2008 | Sandeshaya Mahinda defends SL rights in Geneva13 May, 2008 | Sandeshaya EXTERNAL LINKS The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The fact that so many members of UN has placed their trust in Sri Lanka have makes us more determine to fully implement the pledges
