New Delhi : In a move that will please Colombo, India Thursday sprang a surprise by abstaining from voting on a UN Human Rights Council resolution in Geneva calling for a probe into alleged war crimes by Sri Lanka.
India said the resolution ignores the efforts at reconciliation being done by Sri Lanka in the predominantly Tamil north, including holding of elections.
Contrary to what was widely expected to be a repeat of earlier moves of backing the UN resolution, India Thursday said it “cannot go along with the resolution and will abstain on the resolution under consideration”.
“In asking the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to investigate, assess and monitor the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, the resolution ignores the progress already made by the country,” it said.
While rejecting the resolution, India said it is “concerned that the resolution has the potential to hinder the efforts of the country rather than contribute constructively to its efforts, and hence inadvertently complicate the situation”.
The resolution said that India is “strongly supportive of Sri Lanka’s continued engagement with the OHCHR”.
It noted that Sri Lanka during the past year has undertaken “some notable developments”, including honouring its commitment to the international community to hold elections to the Northern Provincial Council.
The government of Sri Lanka has taken steps to implement some of the “important recommendations of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), such as Trilingual Policy, promoting the official use of the Tamil language and the upgrading of schools in the Northern and Eastern Provinces”.
It noted the “progress made in reconstruction, resettlement and implementation of some of the recommendations made by the LLRC established by Sri Lanka”.
“At the same time, the report also notes that the Government of Sri Lanka has failed to ensure independent and credible investigations into past violations of international human rights and humanitarian law,” it said.
The report of the LLRC and its findings and recommendations “provide a window of opportunity to forge a consensual way forward towards a lasting political settlement”, India said.
It called for effective and timely implementation of all the constructive recommendationscontained in the LLRC Report, including those pertaining to missing persons, detainees, reduction of ‘high security zones’, return of private lands by the military and withdrawal of security forces from the civilian domain in the Northern Province.
It termed the elections to the Northern Provincial Council in September last year as a “significant step forward” but noted that “much more needs to be done towards a meaningful devolution of powers”.
“It (Sri Lanka) needs to continue to take specific measures towards broad-based, inclusive, meaningful and genuine reconciliation with the minority Tamil community. We call on the Government of Sri Lanka to make purposeful efforts to fulfil its commitments, including on the devolution of political authority through the full implementation of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution of Sri Lanka and build upon it.”
India also said as Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour and with thousands of years of relations, “we cannot remain untouched by developments in that country”.
It said India remains engaged in a substantial way in the relief, resettlement, rehabilitation and reconstruction process in Sri Lanka, all of which has contributed towards return of a modicum of normalcy to the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.
On the matter of addressing human rights violations, India said the UNHRC’s efforts should “be in a direction to enable Sri Lanka to investigate all allegations of human rights violations through comprehensive, independent and credible national investigative mechanisms and bring to justice those found guilty” and Sri Lanka should be provided all assistance it needs.
The LTTE were also alleged to have committed human rights violations during the war.
Giving reasons for India’s different response, the external affairs ministry spokesperson said that unlike earlier resolutions, in 2009, 2012 and 2013, the current resolution “imposes an international investigative mechanism”, which is an “intrusive approach that undermines national sovereignty”.
He said an external probe “is not a constructive approach”.
“In our view adopting an intrusive approach that undermines national sovereignty and institutions is counterproductive.”