Sri Lanka (Commonwealth Union)_ At the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, 43 countries voiced their support for Sri Lanka during an interactive dialogue, according to a statement from Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism. The ministry said this show of solidarity came from a diverse group of nations, including members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE), as well as countries across Africa, Asia, and beyond, such as Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Philippines, Japan, Laos, Thailand, Vanuatu, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nepal, India, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Belarus, Egypt, Venezuela, the Maldives, Cuba, South Sudan, Sudan, Russia, and Burundi.
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These countries welcomed Sri Lanka’s continued engagement with the Human Rights Council and appreciated the recent visit by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk. They praised Sri Lanka’s continuing legislative changes and larger attempts at internal reconciliation, urging the international community to back the country’s own procedures. Many supportive governments voiced concerns about the UNHRC’s use of resources, questioning the need for externally driven processes in Sri Lanka while the Council is suffering budget constraints. They contended that such parallel procedures might exacerbate political divisions and jeopardize Sri Lanka’s progress.
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Critics of externally imposed mechanisms said that country-specific mandates, like those proposed for Sri Lanka, run counter to the Council’s founding principles of fairness, neutrality, and universality. They advised against politicizing human rights or using them to intervene in a country’s internal affairs. Instead, they advocated for open, cooperative discourse as the best way to achieve significant progress. Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner Volker Türk reflected positively on his visit to Sri Lanka this June. According to the ministry’s statement, Türk appreciated the opportunity to engage with a wide cross-section of Sri Lankan society, including political leaders, religious figures, and local communities.
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In contrast, the United Kingdom took a firmer stance during the session. Speaking on behalf of the UK, Human Rights Ambassador Eleanor Sanders welcomed the High Commissioner’s report and Sri Lanka’s stated commitments to human rights. However, she emphasized the importance of “tangible and sustained progress” in tackling long-standing issues. Ambassador Sanders emphasized the significance of researching mass burial sites in accordance with international norms. She also raised worry about several ongoing challenges in Sri Lanka, including arbitrary incarceration, fatalities in jail, intimidation of human rights advocates, and marginalization of minorities. Sanders was particularly concerned about the ongoing usage of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), despite the Sri Lankan government’s prior commitments to remove it. She urged the government to strengthen its domestic institutions, especially those handling reparations and missing persons, and called on the UN human rights office to continue monitoring sexual violence related to the country’s past conflicts.
Back in Geneva, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Vijitha Herath, addressed the Council directly. He reaffirmed the new government’s commitment to human rights and its determination to build a more inclusive political culture. Minister Herath highlighted the progress made by local efforts aimed at national unity and healing. He appealed to the international community to give Sri Lanka the space and time needed to continue these efforts. Sri Lanka’s delegation to the 60th UNHRC session was led by Minister Herath as well as Ambassador Himalee Arunatilaka, Director General of UN and Human Rights at the Foreign Ministry Dayani Mendis, and senior diplomats from Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission in Geneva.
