12:24 PM

SL to counter US Resolutions 1338

Sri Lanka is planning to launch a counterattack against the recent United States Resolution 1338, which calls for an international Human Rights (HR) monitoring mission to help maintain law and order in the embattled island. This is apart from several other demands, which include an end to the ongoing military onslaught and the culture of impunity in the face of growing HR violations.

Highly placed sources said that, Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry officials have already started to counter the recent Resolution tabled in the US Congress on Sri Lanka, and is hoping to approach US Congress Foreign Affairs Committee members to present the Sri Lankan government’s point of view on the recent Resolution against the island.

Despite attempts by the US Congress to impose the Resolutions, Foreign Ministry officials claimed that it was unlikely that there would be any ‘real’ impact on the country by the motions.
However, it is learnt that pro LTTE lobby groups and activists in the US, have received a significant boost from Resolution 1338, which urges the Sri Lankan government to pursue a political solution, rather than a military one, tabled in the US Congress , last week.

Resolution 1338 has been referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a powerful legislative body charged with oversight of US government policy concerning foreign relations issues.
The Nation learns that pro LTTE lobby groups have been working for months, campaigning for such a Resolution.
Pro LTTE groups such as “Tamils for Justice” have already declared that Resolution 1388 is a huge setback to the Sri Lankan Government.

Resolution 1388 on Sri Lanka, sponsored by Congressman Brad Sherman of California and co-sponsored by Congressmen Frank Pallon Jr. of New Jersey and Jerry Weller of Illinois, called on the United States Government and the international community to support a transition to sustainable peace in Sri Lanka, by encouraging an International HR Monitoring presence, protecting the work of civil society and media, facilitating access of humanitarian operations, and retaining democratic principles in which rule of law and justice pervades.

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