‘We Are Extremely Disappointed On India’s Abstain’ Says TCSF
March 28, 2014
While expressing its appreciation for those countries that sponsored and voted for the resolution on promoting accountability, reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka last night, the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) says; “We are extremely disappointed that India chose to abstain during the vote on the full text of the resolution and to vote for the motion that sought to delete the paragraph (Operative Paragraph 10) in the resolution authorising the OHCHR to undertake investigations.”
Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph
Issuing a statement on behalf of the TCSF , Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph(Bishop of Mannar) and Kumaravadivel Guruparan (University of Jaffna) said; “We deeply regret that this resolution does not provide for the establishment of a robust mechanism of international investigations in the form of an International Commission of Inquiry. We are also concerned that the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner’s mandate for investigations has been limited to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’s time framework. The resolution does not explicitly provide her office the authority to investigate on going violations.
“With regard to Operative Paragraph 6 of the resolution we reiterate that the13th amendment provides no basis for a political solution of the Tamil question. The narrative of the preambular paragraphs, we note with regret, does not take into consideration the specificity of the problems faced by the Tamils.
“We are concerned that despite the resolution and the debate leading up to it, the plight of the Tamils continue and continue to escalate. We wish to stress upon the International Community, the need to take bold, firm and decisive steps that will be necessary to address the ongoing suffering of the Tamils.”
Countries Supported Sri Lanka Are “Not Free Countries”
March 27, 2014
The 12 countries that voted against the Sri Lanka resolution today in the UN Human Rights Council are “not free countries” according to Freedom House and EIU Democracy Index.
The first column in the table below shows the 9 out of 12 courtiers are classified as ‘not free’ by Freedom House, and the other 3 countries are classified as ‘partly free’. The other column shows the countries rank on the EIU Democracy Index, the bottom entry is the average.
