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Sri Lanka thanked the Kingdom and other GCC countries for voting in her favor at the UN summit for human rights held in Geneva on Thursday.
The United States brought a resolution before the UN rights council urging Sri Lanka’s government to investigate allegations of human rights abuses and to seek reconciliation.
The island’s Industry and Commerce Minister Rishath Bathiudeen told Arab News yesterday from Geneva that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government is thankful to the Kingdom, Kuwait and Qatar for supporting Sri Lanka on the resolution. The minister also thanked Jordan for abstaining from the vote, which indirectly extended it moral support toward Sri Lanka's initiatives.
“ We are very happy that all the countries in the Middle East which had the voting right at the summit supported us,” Bathiudeen said.
The US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at the 19th session of the UNHRC in Geneva was adopted with 24 countries voting for and 15 against it and eight countries including Jordan abstaining.
“With 15 countries voting with Sri Lanka, and 8 abstaining, the final result was that 23 out of 47 members of the council did not support the resolution, while 24 supported it. The margin was as narrow as this,” Bathiudeen said.
“Many countries which voted with Sri Lanka were acutely conscious of the danger of setting a precedent which enables ad hoc intervention by powerful countries in the internal affairs of other nations. This is a highly selective and arbitrary process not governed by objective norms or criteria of any kind.”
Bathiudeen, who is also the leader of the All-Ceylon Muslim Congress, also met the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Kalifa Al-Thani last week to apprise him of the situation in Sri Lanka.
Abdul Hameed Mohammed Fowzie, who is currently leading a Haj delegation to the Kingdom, also thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for the support.
“The Sri Lankan government had always stood for the cause of Arabs and Muslims in the region. Rajapaksa has been the president of the Lanka-Palestinian Friendship Association in Colombo since its inception,” Fowzie said.
