UNHRC Chief has no mandate to violate Charter - Minister | Daily News

UNHRC Chief has no mandate to violate Charter - Minister

The purpose of the UN Charter is to protect the interests of its members and it should not be used as an instrument to interfere, Public Security Minister Rear Admiral Dr. Sarath Weerasekara said. He said that if the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s actions leads to interference, then she is violating both the spirit and the letter of the Charter. The Minister said this during his address at the 13th edition of Aero India held at the Taj Samudra on Wednesday organised by the Indian High Commission. Aero India 2021, the tech exhibition began in Bengaluru’s Air Force Station in Yelahanka yesterday.

The Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will showcase state-of-the-art products and systems spanning every domain of its business. Aero India exhibition is a three-day event which will be held from February 3 to 5.

In his address as the chief guest at this event, Minister Weerasekara noted that the relationship between India and Sri Lanka dates back thousands of years.The first historically recorded diplomatic mission had been when King Devanampiyatissa sent a special envoy to Pataliputra for King Asoka. King Asoka, in turn, sent his own son Mahinda to Sri Lanka with a special gift and from that day on we all became Buddhists.

“So, we have such a strong friendship and India came to our assistance whenever we were in need. When we were fighting against the most ruthless LTTE, India supported us to act against terrorism,” he said.

In the horrific Easter Sunday bombings, the Minister said that alerts issued by the Indian agencies before the attack had warned specifically about the use of radicalised suicide bombers being used for attacks against churches. But, unfortunately, the then government could not prevent it despite such early warnings.

He said that in 2014 when at the UNHRC through a country-specific resolution permitted the Commissioner to investigate the alleged charges of human rights allegations, India stood by Sri Lanka and declared that it is an interference into the internal affairs of a sovereign country.The principle of non-interference into the internal affairs of a country is one of the pillars of the UN Charter.

“For instance, the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s recent report on Sri Lanka, a comment on how we handled the COVID-19 pandemic and her comment on the so-called future trends, is an indication to the degree to which she continues to interfere. Sri Lanka handled the COVID-19 issue in the best way in South Asia. Part of the success is the discipline exercised by the security forces to ensure the spread of the virus was contained. Instead of seeing this in a positive light, she sees it as a militarization of the administration.

The purpose of the UN charter is to protect the interests of its members and not to be used as an instrument to interfere,” he said, adding that if the Commissioner’s actions lead to interference, then she is violating both the spirit and the letter of the charter.