http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2012/03/04/pol01.asp


Hypocrisy and double standards will undermine UNHRC’s legitimacy’:
Lankan envoy takes US under Secretary to task
by Manjula FERNANDO
Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva
Tamara Kunanayakam strongly objected to US Under Secretary Maria Otero’s
comments at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday that Sri Lanka had
failed to show progress on HR issues, warning that the hypocrisy and double
standards of the US would undermine gravely the legitimacy of the Council.
“Only-two-and-a-half months since the publication of the LLRC report and
three years after ending 30 years of terrorism and separatism, the US seems to
be impatient,” Kunanayakam said.
Her comments were endorsed by key UNHRC members. The Chinese delegate who
spoke before the Sri Lankan ambassador exercised her ‘Right of Reply’ saying
“before criticising others you (US) should take a long and hard look at your own
human rights record.”
The Chinese member said that no country can speak of a perfect human rights
record and one must set an example before criticising others.
He said the Chinese delegation was deeply concerned over the US failure to
address its own HR issues.
The Sri Lankan ambassador said she regretted the statement where ‘Ms. Otero
has thought it fit to unilaterally develop and set forth values that would guide
the workings of the HRC departing from its founding principles - universality,
impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity’. “This intentional departure aims
at legitimising the politicisation of this Council and justify its approach in
treating countries such as Sri Lanka.”
In making these comments on Sri Lanka, the US has overlooked the progress the
country had made after a long drawn out battle against terrorism.
She said that due recognition and notice must be given to the fact that in
Sri Lanka ‘Emergency regulations have been repealed, over 1,200 detainees
released, one detention centre closed, apart from the 300 of over 11,000 former
combatants who surrendered and have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into
mainstream society, over 95 percent of the nearly 290,000 displaced persons have
been resettled’ and significant progress made on land issues, implementation of
the trilingual language policy, scaling down of HSZs and the demining and
rehabilitation of child soldiers.
With regard to accountability, she said, two courts of inquiry and a board of
inquiry has been set up by the Army and the Navy. A time-bound national HR
action plan which has many synergies with the LLRC recommendations is also being
implemented.
She said, “Sri Lanka will present its report during the second cycle of the
Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in October this year,” adding that this was the
appropriate forum to discuss the progress various countries had made in
promoting and protecting in human rights of all countries.
Following the US Under Secretary’s statement yesterday, the Head of the Non
Aligned Movement also expressed support to Sri Lanka, criticising the US move.
Ms. Otero, however, fell short of mentioning anything about a US brokered
resolution against Sri Lanka on Friday.