UN panel ignored highly reliable sources: GSLF in Geneva
The panel which justified charges levelled against Sri Lanka in the UN, had completely ignored highly reliable witnesses including UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Neil Buhne and US Ambassador Robert Blake, the Global Sri Lankan Forum (GSLF) said.
GSLF President of its Kuwait branch, Marrie Williams expressed this to the UNHRC 37th session on Monday in Geneva.
She said the ‘highly reliable witnesses’ had first-hand knowledge of exactly how much food and medicine was transported to the conflict-zone though the panel charged Sri Lanka of “denial of humanitarian assistance to civilians in the conflict areas”
“It is a fact that, the panel’s chief source of evidence to justify charges against Sri Lanka are anonymous and couldn’t be verified, statements that were not available to the public and kept secret. The panel was misleading the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) throughout its submission, ignoring ground level realities and available reliable evidences,” Ms. Willams said.
She said the Universal Periodic Review concluded in Nov 2017 and discussed in this session has recommendations to reinforce HRC resolution 30/1 which was formulated based on the OISL report. “A factual appraisal of the
We urge this council to stand up for the justice and legitimate rights of the Sri Lankan State which is being victimized for human rights violations and look into the counter report submitted to this council
OISL report was submitted to this council in March 2017, challenging all the charges that were brought against Sri Lanka.
“We urge this council to stand up for the justice and legitimate rights of the Sri Lankan State which is being victimized for human rights violations and look into the counter report submitted to this council. We also urge the council to impose a moratorium on the UNHRC from pursuing any further measures with respect to Sri Lanka based on resolution 30/1 until such investigations are complete,” she said.