The United Sates on Friday called on Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the LLRC, which it says Colombo “never implemented,” and also to listen to the international community.

“They should implement the plan that they have never implemented. They should listen to the words of the international community,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, responding to a question on what the Sri Lankan government should do now after the UN Human Rights Council vote on a resolution on Sri Lanka.

She stated that the US welcomes the passage of the new resolution, which 24 other countries also voted for on Thursday in Geneva.

“We call on the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfill its obligations to its own people,” Nuland said at the State Department media briefing in Washington.

She stressed that the resolution “very clearly” expresses the support of the international community for Sri Lanka, addressing its outstanding issues related to reconciliation and for meeting its obligations for accountability, which she says the government “has not yet done”.

When inquired whether Sri Lanka could have avoided this resolution, the State Department spokeswoman stated that the US had discussed with Sri Lankan officials that if the government fails to take appropriate steps they “would see this kind of a resolution coming forward” and that even after six months the US still “didn’t see any progress”.

“We want to see the Sri Lankans take their own decisions,” she said, adding, and if those are not forthcoming the international community will look at whether there are other steps that can be taken.

“We have talked in the past about whether there ought to be an international effort on this front rather than a Sri Lankan-led effort,” Nuland said.


Excerpts of the State Department media briefing:

QUESTION: Madam, after this UN Security Council – Human Rights Council vote on Sri Lanka, what are the consequences or what do you think the Sri Lankan government should do now?

MS. NULAND: They should implement the plan that they have never implemented. They should listen to the words of the international community. As you know, we welcome the passage of this new resolution; 24 other countries also voted for it. We call on the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfill its obligations to its own people. The resolution very clearly expresses the support of the international community for Sri Lanka, addressing its outstanding issues related to reconciliation and for meeting its obligations for accountability, which it has not yet done.

QUESTION: Let me ask you, since this resolution has been going on for some time, and I’m sure there was ample warning and discussions and dialogue with Sri Lankan government or officials, either from the U.S. or UN or other international community, was there any time when – that Sri Lanka could have avoided this resolution against them?

MS. NULAND: We’ve talked about this for the past week here, Goyal, and I said that we had made clear, including when senior Sri Lankans had visited Washington, that if they didn’t take steps that they could – would see this kind of a resolution coming forward. That was about six months ago, and we didn’t see any progress.

QUESTION: So finally, how can you enforce it now?

MS. NULAND: Again, we want to see the Sri Lankans take their own decisions. As we’ve said before, if those are not forthcoming, the international community will look at whether there are other steps we can take.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Like what? Like doing the same exact resolution next year?

MS. NULAND: No. We have talked in the past about whether there ought to be an international effort on this front rather than a Sri Lankan-led effort.