UK disagrees with NAM on Lanka

20 March 2010 06:57 am

Britain disagrees with the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) that UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon is not within his right to set up a group of experts who will advise him on taking forward his concerns on Sri Lanka.

UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mark Lyall Grant says the Secretary-General does have a mandate through the UN charter to uphold human rights and humanitarian international law, and therefore he is entirely within his rights to set up the group of experts.

“We would disagree with the Non-Aligned Movement, who are arguing that he is acting beyond his mandate,” Inner City Press quoted Mark Lyall Grant as saying.

Ambassador Lyall Grant also noted that Britain has made it very clear that they want to see an end to impunity in Sri Lanka and see allegations of war crimes, human rights violations and human rights abuses thoroughly investigated.