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PERMANENT MISSION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTREPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE, GENEVA Tel : (022) 919 12 50 56, Rue de Moillebeau Fax : (022) 734 90 84 1211 Geneva 19 E-mail : mission@lankamission.org Switzerland. Web: www.lankamission.org Media Release Developing countries express their confidence for the efforts made by Sri Lanka towards achieving national reconciliation Developing countries expressed their confidence for the efforts made by Sri Lanka towards achieving national reconciliation and commended its level of cooperation with the UN. They clearly highlighted that the report A/HRC/22/38 was tabled today(20 March 2012)at the UN Human Rights Council under the agenda item 2 by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was unwarranted and a clear overstepping of its mandate. They also underlined that the report of the OHCHR has no nexus to the principle objectives of the US sponsored resolution 19/2 of March 2012, and therefore, any further initiatives in the Council, based on or emanating from this report are counterproductive. The Delegation of the Russian Federation, while making a joint statement on behalf of 14 countries: Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan, Uganda, Venezuela and Zimbabwe stated that " We note that the objective of the resolution 19/2 was to mandate the OHCHR to provide, in consultation with and with the concurrence of the Government of Sri Lanka, advise and technical assistance on implementing the said resolution ; and to request OHCHR to present a report to the Council on the provision of such assistance. We further note that the above was mandated clearly within the context of the implementation of Sri Lanka's domestic reconciliation process. Considering the above, we are of the view that the report A/HRC/22/38, the High Commissioner has exceeded her mandate of reporting on the provision of assistance, by making substantive recommendations and pronouncements. These recommendations are of a political nature. Furthermore, the High Commissioner, specifically in paragraph 64 of the Report has hastened to prejudge the outcome of Sri Lanka's ongoing domestic reconciliation process". Russia further noted that "the repeated allusion to the Secretary General's Panel of Experts Report, which was not mandated or endorsed by any intergovernmental process, not only takes the report beyond the scope and mandate of 19/2, but also exposes its inherent bias"