President Mahinda Rajapaksa today slammed attempts to bring a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next month. The United States is to sponsor the resolution on Sri Lanka’s human rights situation but the President says the resolution will be a grave crime against peace. Addressing the Nation at the 66th Independence Day celebrations in Kegalle today, the President noted that critics tend to forget the hard fought peace in the country and also forget the grave human rights violations committed by the LTTE.
The President recalled that the LTTE killed several people including Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi but with the defeat of the rebels in May 2009 even the Tamils in the North are experiencing true freedom.
He said there is no basis for the allegations being raised in Geneva and his Government will not leave any room for the freedom enjoyed by all Sri Lankans to be taken away.
The President was speaking in the presence of several foreign diplomats, including the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Ambassador John Rankin. Britain will be co-sponsoring the US resolution on Sri Lanka in Geneva.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement issued by the President’s office to mark the 66th independence anniversary, Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka’s policy of Non-Alignment, with a commitment to justice and humanity, has brought it friends in the global community who understand Sri Lanka’s trials in recent decades, and are ready to help the island go forward in freedom with the assurance of support in international fora.
“I share your dream to strengthen the Sri Lankan nation under a single flag in a united country. Achieving this requires hard work coupled with diligence and honesty. It calls for patriotism that transcends the barriers of geography and community, with reconciliation and combined unity of purpose,” the President said in the statement. (Colombo Gazette)