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TNA to skip UNHRC session in Geneva – Report
Feb 26, 201201:28 AM
Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has decided not to attend next week’s UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva, the Press Trust of India (PTI) has reported on Saturday.
A resolution backed by the USA is expected to be moved against the Sri Lankan government over human rights issues at the session to be held in Geneva. The TNA had stated that it does not want to “exacerbate tensions” and opted to stay out of the Geneva session.
“The TNA considers it imperative that in the present situation calm should be maintained and that nothing should be done which could exacerbate tensions. In these circumstances the TNA has decided not to be present in Geneva,” a statement issued by the party said, reports PTI.
The 19th session of the UNHRC starting next Monday is expected to take up a US-backed resolution on Sri Lanka over its rights accountability record. The government here has mobilised street protests against the possible US move.
Colombo has asserted that it has already started implementing the recommendations of its own accountability probe by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on the country’s human rights record during the LTTE conflict.
The TNA said the government’s predicament vis a vis the international community was due to its own failures.
“The Sri Lankan State has a notorious reputation for failure to fulfill commitments it makes, and for not making public reports of processes which could hold it accountable,” the statement said.
The government brands the TNA a proxy of the defeated LTTE and accuses them of furthering the Tamil Tigers’ separatist cause with the backing of the pro-rebel diaspora, the PTI further states.
