Statement by Hon Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka - High Level Segment of the 46th Session of the UN Human Rights Council - 23 February 2021, Geneva
Madam President,
Madam High Commissioner,
Distinguished Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. As I address you today, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has published a report on Sri Lanka accompanied by an unprecedented propaganda campaign on that report.
2. Sri Lankan heroic armed forces militarily neutralized the LTTE in 2009 after three-decades of conflict. The Sri Lanka Government acted in self-defense to safeguard the unitary state, sovereignty & territorial integrity from the world’s most ruthless separatist terrorist organization.
3. The LTTE is the only terrorist organization in the world which has killed two world leaders: a serving President of Sri Lanka and a former Prime Minister of India extending its terror beyond the borders of Sri Lanka.
4. End of terrorism guaranteed the most cherished of all human rights - right to life of all Sri Lankans – Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslims.
5. Nonetheless hegemonic forces colluded against Sri Lanka in bringing an unsubstantiated resolution against Sri Lanka which was defeated by the support of friendly nations who remain by Sri Lanka’s side even today. Further resolutions were presented to this Council on purely political motives. In each instance Sri Lanka presented the procedural improprieties, and how such processes could set a dangerous precedent affecting all member states of the United Nations.