Agitation on Lanka’s Human Rights record:

GUNS FALL SILENT

UK, France etc mum:

Neither Britain nor France raised the issue of human rights in Sri Lanka in the time allotted to them for the opening statement at the 22nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva although they had been in the forefront of the Western powers’ campaign to ensure civilian safety in the last and decisive phase of Eelam War IV in 2009, the New Indian Express reported. Germany did not speak about the Rights situation in Lanka. The US was the only member country to raise the issue of Human Rights violations in the time allotted for it.

On Thursday, the UNHRC disassociated itself from the screening of the Channel 4 film No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka at the UN premises by some NGOs on the sidelines of the 22nd session.

Following a protest letter from the Lankan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha, UNHRC president Remigiusz A Henczel, said that such events did not reflect the official position of the Council.

Meanwhile, a motion on Sri Lanka titled ‘Use the UN Human Rights Council and demand Observance of Laws, Human Rights and Reconciliation Process in Sri Lanka’ was rejected with the votes of the governing coalition in the German Bundestag (German Parliament) on February 28.

The motion was put forward by the opposition Social Democratic party (SPD) group in the Parliament and signed by its chairman Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, former candidate for German Chancellor and former Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Parliamentarian Jurgen Klimke speaking for the ruling Christian Democratic Party (CDU) party group argued that there is no need for the motion as the Federal government was already actively working with the international community and the Sri Lankan government to address issues related to it. Free Democratic Party (FDP) parliamentarian Pascal Kober said the FDP- led Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Federal Government was very active in the promotion of peace and Human Rights in Sri Lanka. “With these activities, this governing coalition supports the long-term process of reconciliation between the formerly conflicting parties in Sri Lanka and thus promotes the step-by-step realisation of the Human Rights by the Sri Lankan government,” he said.Left Party parliamentarian Karin Werner referred to the history of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and said that the roots of the conflict had been laid by colonialism.

Tom Koenigs, parliamentarian of Alliance 90 / the Greens and chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the German Bundestag ( Parliament), in his speech argued that it was the responsibility of the internationally community to prevent internal conflicts to developing into Human Rights violations. The Sri Lankan Embassy in Berlin monitored the proceedings in the German Parliament closely.