UNHRC adopts resolution against Sri Lanka’s rights record

About:

• The draft resolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ was adopted at the 51st Session of Human Rights Council in Geneva.
• The significant feature in the resolution is its call to investigate the on-going economic crisis and prosecute those responsible.
• The resolutions on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka were previously moved in Geneva in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, and in 2021. Sri Lanka had expressed opposition to the resolution as a violation of its sovereignty other than in 2015 when they co-sponsored the resolution.

UN Human Rights Council

• What is it? It is an inter-governmental body within the UN system.
• Location: It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
• Establishment: It was founded in 2006. It replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR).
• Functions:
  • It investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in UN member states.
  • It addresses important human rights issues such as freedom of expression, women’s rights, LGBT rights, and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.
  • The UNHRC works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
• Membership:
  • The Council is made of 47 Member States, which are elected by UN General Assembly through direct and secret ballot. The Council’s Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution.
  • Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.
  • In June 2018, the United States announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) terming it “hypocritical and self-serving”. 

Source : Indian Express

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