Summary: 28 May 2009, Geneva – The European Union regrets that it was not possible for the Human Rights Council to agree on an acceptable outcome of the Special Session addressing the serious human rights violations and the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka.
The EU (together with a number of other countries) in line with the statements given by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanathem Pillay, as well as by a group of UN Rapporteurs at the opening of the Special Session, made all efforts to achieve a constructive outcome calling on the Government of Sri Lanka to respect the human rights of Internally Displaced Persons, to end torture, extrajudicial killings, harassment of independent journalist, lawyers, and human rights defenders, to call for an independent investigation of human rights violations and to ensure adequate follow-up during one of the coming sessions of the Human Rights Council.
We regret that the proposals presented by the EU to amend the Sri Lankan draft resolution could be neither discussed nor considered by the Council, as a “closure of debate” rule was invoked by Cuba and supported by a majority of Council Members. Such motions contradict the very spirit in which the Human Rights Council was conceived.
The European Union recalls that the General Assembly has given the Human Rights Council the task of addressing situations of violations of human rights and we remain convinced that the Council has to be able to address urgent human rights situations anywhere in the world. We therefore continue to consider the holding of this Special Session as an appropriate reaction to the situation in Sri Lanka, although the outcome itself does not, in our view, address the complexity and the seriousness of the situation on the ground. The EU will continue to support the efforts of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN agencies to alleviate the suffering of civilians on the ground and to work for the achievement of durable stability.
* Ref: CL09-128EN
* EU source: Council
* UN forum:
* Date: 28/5/2009
http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_8758_en.htm
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