Geneva human rights meet today
Human rights chief is concerned about the excesses not just during the war but also now
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-09-08 04:35 GMT
Chennai: Prince Zeid Raad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, the new UNHRC chief, has said he attaches great importance to the investigation on Sri Lanka even as Colombo expressed hope that he would carry out his duties “in a more balanced manner” and not follow the ‘hostile’ agenda pursued by predecessor Ms Navi Pillay.Information minister and Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said a couple of days back that while Ms Pillay was “biased against Sri Lanka, never impartial”, there was now hope that the new UNHRC chief would be fair. “We hope her successor would be more balanced in his approach”, he said.
Three UNHRC resolutions in 2012,2013 and 2014 during Pillay’s term had slammed Colombo for excesses during the final stages of the war with the LTTE and there has been international pressure building up for an international probe.Sri Lanka has announced it would not cooperate with the probe and the team appointed by Pillay for the probe was denied visas for entry into the island country.
Prince Al-Hussein has now called upon Colombo to cooperate with the reconciliation initiatives of the UN body that could include the international probe. He would be presiding over the 27th UNHRC session commencing on Monday and his opening statement, which got leaked, showed that he is very concerned about the excesses not just during the war but also later now—such as threats being issued against human rights defenders in Sri Lanka as well as on prospective victims and witnesses.
He has also deplored the incitements and violence against the Muslim and Christian minorities in the country.While the popular ‘Daily Mirror’ newspaper in Colombo reported Al-Hussein’s concerns, the responses from its readers spewed with racial venom. One reader called the new UNHRC chief a “Muslim supporter of ISIS” while another said he was on “LTTE payroll” and yet another advised him to “first investigate abuse of human rights in his own country (Jordan) where honour killings of females is rampant”.“The former (Pillay) was a Tamil and the new one is Muslim”, was another hate posting.