The United Kingdom, the main sponsor of the follow up resolution on Sri Lanka which is currently being mooted, shared the first working draft of the resolution among member States on Friday.
The draft which will be tweaked significantly before it is finalised towards the end of this month, currently reads: ‘The Human Rights Council decided to request the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to assess the implementation of Resolution 30/1, and to present a written update to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-seventh session, and a comprehensive report followed by a discussion on the implementation of resolution 30/1 at its fortieth Session.’
If Sri Lanka so decides to co-sponsor the resolution, without help from member States to change the language of the text, the Government will be compelled to set up a Hybrid Court in keeping with the High Commissioner’s recommendations in his latest report.
However, on Friday both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe rejected the prospect of setting up a hybrid court as part of the Transitional Justice mechanism in Sri Lanka.
In his report released on Friday Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein emphasised the Hybrid Court should include ‘international judges, defence lawyers, prosecutors and investigators, to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law,’ and added the government should provide it with the resources necessary to enable it to try those responsible promptly and effectively.
The resolution is to be moved by the co-sponsors UK and US on March 22 and is expected to be passed without a vote.
The UK has convened the first meeting to discuss the draft resolution on Tuesday where Sri Lanka will be relying on its friends to help change the text to safeguard the country’s interests. Before the resolution is tabled on March 22, at least a couple of informal meetings will be held to choose the language and the tone of the resolution.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Asitha Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka’s position whether it will agree to a consensual resolution, meaning if it will agree to co-sponsor the resolution will be determined later.
He said the Minister who is currently in Indonesia is yet to decide if he will be leaving for Geneva to attend the sessions on March 22, when Sri Lanka will be taken up for discussion. The High Commissioner’s report will also be tabled the same day with a possibility to call for a debate among member states.