Sri Lankans protest before UNHRC resolution vote

Over 1,500 Sri Lankans held a peaceful protest against a UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka that will be voted on this week, an official said here Wednesday.

The National Organizations Collective brought together over 1,500 people, including 300 Buddhist prelates, actors, singers and academics as well as representatives of Sri Lanka's minorities, to stage a protest against the UNHRC resolution, Xinhua reported.

The Sri Lankan government faces a resolution before the UNHRC in Geneva for failing to implement adequate reconciliation measures and investigate allegations of war crimes after the end of a three-decade civil war in 2009.

The resolution, which is the third consecutive one faced by the government, is led by the US, which has insisted Sri Lanka's human rights record has failed to improve since the conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009.

Sri Lanka's government has vehemently denied war crimes allegations and has lobbied extensively to obtain support from UNHRC members, including China, to defeat the resolution that will be voted on later this week.

"Foreign countries cannot be allowed to interfere in the affairs of Sri Lanka. Peace has finally dawned on this country and we must work together to protect it," Bengamuwe Nalaka Thero, one of the protestors, told the gathering.

The protest came just hours ahead of UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay presenting her findings, gathered during a visit to Sri Lanka last year, to the UNHRC members. During the last few weeks, numerous protest marches have been staged in Sri Lanka with the UNHRC making front page news almost daily.

On Tuesday the final draft of the resolution on Sri Lanka sponsored by the US, Britain and three other countries was submitted to the 25th session of the UNHRC.

The resolution calls for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to undertake a comprehensive independent investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties in Sri Lanka, and establish the facts and circumstances of such alleged violations and of the crimes perpetrated with a view to avoiding impunity and ensuring accountability, with assistance from relevant experts and special procedures.

The Sri Lankan government has stressed that it was "grossly unfair" to investigate only the last phase of the war and constantly called for a comprehensive investigation during the whole three decades of war if an international inquiry was to be conducted.