Difficult to Defeat UNHRC Resolutions Due to Content – Foreign Minister

• More and more member states have recently chosen to abstain from voting on Sri Lanka’s human rights situation, making it harder to garner support

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana

Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Hearth told Parliament yesterday that it has become increasingly difficult to defeat resolutions brought against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) due to the nature of the resolutions and geopolitical dynamics within the Council.
“Only 47 nations currently make up the UNHRC. This includes 13 Asia-Pacific countries, 13 African nations, 8 from Latin America, and 7 each from Western and Eastern Europe. Many of these countries, especially in Europe, often take common positions on key issues. As a result, defeating a resolution has become a rare phenomenon,” the Minister said.
He further noted that more and more member states have recently chosen to abstain from voting on Sri Lanka’s human rights situation, making it harder to garner support.
“In 2012, 15 nations voted in favour of Sri Lanka. That number dropped to 13 in 2013, 12 in 2014, 11 in 2021, and only 7 in 2022. Sri Lanka also co-sponsored resolutions in 2015, 2016, and 2017. Given this trend, defeating resolutions has become increasingly difficult,” he added.
Minister Herath criticized past efforts to lobby against such resolutions, calling them wasteful. “The most ironic part is that Sri Lanka has spent vast amounts of public funds lobbying countries even when it was clear that the resolutions would not be defeated,” he noted.