Responding to the ‘Oral Update’ on Sri Lanka by the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva today (25 September 2014), Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha said “the Government of Sri Lanka does not wish to help legitimize a flawed process and have a detrimental precedents established”, and hence “has to respectfully refuse those who urge that Sri Lanka cooperate with the OHCHR investigation.”
He said this position has been taken after much consideration and represents not only the will of the Sri Lankan people as reflected in the motion recently adopted in the Parliament with an overwhelming majority, but also the majority within the Human Rights Council, who refused to support Operational Paragraph 10 of HRC resolution 25/1 which created an OHCHR investigation on Sri Lanka in March 2014.
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha said Sri Lanka believes that the ‘10 Point Action Plan’ between the Government of Sri Lanka and WIPO could serve as a useful model for developing countries in upgrading their intellectual property protection regimes and delivering the benefits of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to a broader spectrum of stakeholders.
Ambassador made this observation when he addressed the 54th Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of Member States of WIPO on 23rd September 2014 in Geneva. He noted as the coordinator of SAARC Countries for WIPO- SAARC Consultation Meeting earlier this month, Sri Lanka highlighted the need to enhance implementation of the Development Agenda through its activities and the importance of formulating targeted country plans to achieve the objectives of WIPO’s technical assistance. He also added that the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen mutual cooperation between WIPO and SAARC countries, expected to be considered during the upcoming Summit Meeting of SAARC Member States scheduled to be held in Kathmandu November this year, will further contribute to the development of IP regimes in our region.
Sri Lanka believes that the only way to achieve success in the process of drafting a Declaration on right to peace should be through consensus, based on established principles of international law.
Sri Lanka made this observation at the General Debate under Agenda Item 5 on the Report of Inter-Governmental Working Group on the Right to Peace at the 27th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
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