UN Rights body renews Sri Lanka probe of war crimes

Despite opposition from the government and allies including China, the UN rights body has renewed its mandate to collect and preserve evidence of war-time human rights crimes in Sri Lanka.

The resolution brought by Britain, Canada, the United States, and others passed with 20 votes in favor and seven against at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. China and several other countries supported Sri Lanka's view that the monitoring was meddling.

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, a close ally of Sri Lanka, voted against the resolution, which was described as a political exercise in politicisation of human rights issues, because it rejected it as rambling and a drain on resources. Pakistan abstained in the resolution intrusive Sri Lanka's neighbour India, which extended the most financial support during the island's financial crisis this year.

The resolution renewed its mandate to look at Sri Lanka's progress towards establishing a credible investigation into the alleged war crimes during the civil war that ended in 2009, and to promote demilitarisation of its north and eastern regions.

The resolution also called for the government to investigate and prosecute former and current public officials who triggered the country's worst financial crisis in more than seven decades and plunged the population of 22 million into soaring inflation, currency depreciation and severe food and fuel shortages.

It mandates the UN rights office to prepare a comprehensive report for the UN rights office to be released in 2024, giving Sri Lanka two more years to meet its rights-related obligations.

India said it would work with Sri Lanka to achieve the aspirations of the Tamil minority.

Rights group Amnesty International welcomed the resolution but said more needed to be done.

The UN Human Rights Council's resolution reflects the need for continued international scrutiny on Sri Lanka, said Dinushika Dissanayake, its deputy regional director for South Asia.

In July, Sri Lanka's then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country after widespread riots and new President Ranil Wickremesinghe has an uphill task to put the country's heavy debt back on track, maintain political stability and finalise a US $2.9 billion bailout plan from the International Monetary Fund.