Leaders of the Core group should hang their heads in shame: Wigneswaran lambasts UNHRC draft resolution

Parliamentarian and former Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister Justice CV Wigneswaran  has said that the Zero Draft circulated within Geneva Missions on Sri Lanka is very disappointing and insufficient and that it sends the opposite message to the Sri Lankan government.

“Leaders of the Core group countries UK, Canada, Germany, Montenegro and North Macedonia should hang their heads in shame”. Wigneswaran said in a statement issued today.

“This does not auger well for the future of the UN,” he said, adding that “it is a sad day for all those who care about human rights and basic decency.”

Here is the complete answer to the question released by Wigneswaran:

Question: Have you seen the Zero Draft circulated within Geneva Missions on Sri Lanka and what are your observations?

Response: Yes. I was sent a copy by email. The draft is disappointing and insufficient. It is even more so for its serious departures from the recommendations of High Commissioner Bachelet and the OHCHR. It falls far below even the standard set by Resolution 30/1, which failed due to its inadequacies. This sends the government of Sri Lanka the opposite message to that which the Tamil people deserve and the international community expects. Justice delayed is justice denied. Already six years have passed. Sri Lanka has hardly complied with what it undertook.

It is both sad and shocking to see the Core-Group on Sri Lanka for UN Human Rights Council have come up with this disappointing draft which protects mass killers, murderers and rapists. Sri Lankan leaders will be holding parties with great relief. This also gives green light to governments around the world that they can commit War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide without any fear. It is a sad day for all those who care about human rights and basic decency. Leaders of the Core group countries UK, Canada, Germany, Montenegro and North Macedonia should hang their heads in shame. This does not auger well for the future of the UN.

Meanwhile the P2P marches and demonstrations, both from the Tamil North and East and around the world, demonstrate renewed resolve and a growing unity among the Tamil people to agitate for a dignified political solution. To engage the Tamil victim/survivor community, whose interests and safety the resolution is apparently designed to protect, the longstanding demands of that community, must form the basis of any new resolution. I am not sure if any of our so called Tamil Leaders had a hand in playing down the seriousness of the issues involved to the Member Countries. The legitimacy of the UNHRC process regarding Sri Lanka hangs in the balance!