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Updated December 20th, 2019 at 18:34 IST

Sri Lanka President won't entertain 2015 UNHRC resolution on war crimes

Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa won't entertain UNHRC resolution on war crimes during a long battle with LTTE. He added there won't be negotiations on Hambantota.

Reported by: Tanima Ray
Sri Lanka
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Speaking to Colombo-based foreign correspondents at the Presidential Secretariat on December 19, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that he will not entertain or allow the 2015 UN Human Rights Council resolution in co-sponsored by the previous Sirisena government on alleged war crimes during Sri Lanka's three-decade-long civil war with the LTTE. The new Sri Lankan President said it cannot be entertained in its current form. It is not possible for the government to act against its own country, he added. Commenting on the Tamil demand for autonomy, Rajapaksa stressed that no devolution of power would be possible without the consent of the majority. He said that it is not possible to implement any form of a power-sharing political solution. 

Read: Sri Lanka Fully Committed To SAARC And Its Objectives: Rajapaksa

About the UNHRC resolution

In 2013, the UNHRC resolutions had censured Sri Lanka on its alleged human rights abuses. The United Nations body called for probing of rights abuses by both LTTE and the government troops by setting up an international investigation. In its report, the UN accused Sri Lankan government troops of killing at least 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the final months of the island's 37-year guerrilla war that ended in May 2009 with the death of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran. Later on, in 2015, the then Government led by Maithripla Sirisena had co-sponsored a resolution in 2015 to address war crimes.

Read: Sri Lanka To Accelerate Development Of Colombo Port City: PM Rajapaksa

No fresh negotiation on Hambantota port

Besides this, Rajapaksa also said Sri Lanka was not looking to change commercial terms in an agreement with China over a port in Hambantota but will review its security aspects. In 2017, the Sirisena government entered a 99-year lease on the Hambantota port. The current Sri Lankan President said it was important that Sri Lanka had the control of all security aspects of the port. Even the Chinese have understood the concern, he added. He said that he would not renegotiate the 99-year lease agreement of the port as he did not want to convey a message to investors that commercial agreements would change every time a new government was elected to power.

Read: Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa Receives Ceremonial Welcome At Rashtrapati Bhavan

(With inputs from agencies)

Read: Rajapaksa's Visit Has Potential To Boost Bilateral Trade With Sri Lanka: Assocham
 

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Published December 20th, 2019 at 17:58 IST

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