Geneva Lies: Was Parliament Misled?

Due to mounting public discontent at Sri Lanka's performance in Geneva, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath was compelled to issue a statement in Parliament about the Resolution on Sri Lanka adopted at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on the 6th of October, to explain the the government's conduct during the 60th session, especially its failure to call for a vote after it strongly rejected the resolution that was adopted.

- BY SANJA DE SILVA JAYATILLEKA

The government has made several misleading assertions which are summarized below:

• The regional groupings of member states of the Council make it challenging to obtain votes in favour of Sri Lanka.

• The government didn't want to waste large amounts of funds to garner votes in the face of certain failure.

• The government didn't want to be confrontational "by demanding a vote", which would "narrow the space..." to resolve issues through domestic mechanisms.

Earlier in March this year, Minister Bimal Rathnayake, Leader of the House, made an even more misleading statement regarding Geneva:

43 of the 47 members of the Human Rights Council spoke in favour of Sri Lanka, following the Foreign Minister's address to the Council.

Given the possibility that the Ministers themselves were misled, it is necessary to counter the above assertions since this process of regular resolutions on Sri Lanka is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, in the absence of effective action, both domestic and international, to prevent it.

Regional Groupings

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) elects 47 voting members for a three-year period each, from the 193 members of the United Nations. The elections are held in New York, not Geneva, at the General Assembly.

All 193 members of the United Nations however, can attend and speak at UNHRC sessions, sign as cosponsors of resolutions and be active in its many efforts to promote human rights globally.

The voting membership is structured to represent the distribution of the global population fairly, removing regional bias. Therefore, the General Assembly votes for members as follows:

• 13 members from Asia-Pacific states

• 13 members from African states

• 8 Members from Latin American and Caribbean states

• 7 Members from Western European and other states

• 6 members from Eastern European states