LANKA SAYS IT DOES SPEAK OUT FOR PALESTINE

In response to last week’s column headlined ‘Neutrality is not silence: Lanka must speak out for Palestine’, the Foreign Relations Ministry has drawn attention to the statement Sri Lanka’s envoy made at the United Nations Human Rights Council last month when the ‘Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories’ was taken up.

Here are key points in the statement made by Acting Permanent Representative Dayani Mendis:

■ The people of Palestine have a legitimate and inalienable right to statehood and to the natural resources in their territory. ■ Sri Lanka expresses deep concern on, among other matters, the issue pertaining to settlement expansion, particularly the recent decision by the Government of Israel to proceed with the annexation of significant parts of the occupied West Bank.

■ Sri Lanka joins international calls to urge Israel to halt any annexation activities, which would have far reaching and devastating repercussions.

■ As stated in the NAM Coordinating Bureau Communique of 15 May 2020, Sri Lanka notes that annexation would constitute a grave breach of international law, including the UN Charter, relevant conventions as well as Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.

■ Sri Lanka reiterates the importance of the early implementation of the UN General Assembly resolutions regarding the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to statehood and the attainment of a two State solution on the basis of the 1967 borders.

For the full statement, visit http://www. lankamission.org/human-rights-humanitarianaffairs/2863-statement-by-sri-lanka-at-theresumed-43rd-session-of-the-human-rightscouncil-under-agenda-item-7-human-rightssituation-in-palestine-and-other-occupiedarab-territories-15-june-2021.html