Sri Lanka fails to keep its seat on the UN Human Rights Council, following strong lobbying from pressure groups.
Earlier, winners of the Nobel Peace Prize from three continents called on UN members to reject Sri Lanka’s candidacy for the Council. Nobel laureates Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel of Argentina, and Jimmy Carter of the United States each published statements urging opposition.
Sri Lanka secured 101 votes at the UN’s 192-member General Assembly, but this was not enough to beat the other Asian nations competing for seats on the Council that are allotted to the region.
Sources
Sri Lanka, Spain lose UN Rights Council election, Reuters, 21 May 2008; No right to be there, The Guardian, 19 May 2008; Sri Lanka slams door on rights monitors after UN blow, AFP, 22 May 2008.
Quotations
“The systematic abuses by Sri Lankan government forces are among the most serious imaginable. Government security forces summarily remove their own citizens from their homes and families in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again. Torture and extrajudicial killings are widespread. When the human rights council was established, UN members required that states elected must themselves “uphold the highest standards” of human rights. On that count, Sri Lanka is clearly disqualified. Governments owe it to Sri Lankan human rights victims – and to victims of human rights abuses around the world – to ensure that the Sri Lankan bid fails. Defeating the Sri Lankan candidacy would be a comfort to the people of Sri Lanka. It would place international pressure on the government to respect human rights, and to accept a UN human rights monitoring mission, which it has stubbornly refused. It would help make the council a place where true human rights leaders in all regions can help lead the world towards greater respect for human life and human dignity. An outcome, in short, that would benefit those who care about human rights in the world. Any other result would be a travesty.” Desmond Tutu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
“They have done a very subjective campaign, they were only putting forward one side of the story. They were not talking about the substantial progress that Sri Lanka made and, as far as we are concerned, we will continue to show.” Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka’s Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister.
“I reiterate our position again – we don’t see a need for a foreign body to monitor us. We have the necessary laws and procedures in place to monitor cases of human rights. We don’t see the vote as a defeat, it’s not a setback. In fact 101 countries backed us, which is a show of support for our government.” Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama.
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