Sri Lanka backs Belarus at UNHRC

Sri Lanka today backed Belarus when the?Special UN Rapporteur on Belarus submitted a report against the country at the 23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva.
The Sri Lankan delegation said that it was disturbing to note that the report of the?Special Rapporteur on Belarus emanated from a politicized mandate and was not the result of genuine dialogue with the Belarus government.
“We also note that the human rights situation of Belarus does not warrant urgent and immediate attention on the ground,” the Sri Lankan delegation said.
Meanwhile the Belarus Foreign Ministry, this evening, noted the support given by Sri Lanka to the country at the 23rd UNHRC session today.
The Foreign Ministry said that during the debates a group of countries supported Belarus and ranged against the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. They were as follows: Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Venezuela, Cuba, Turkmenistan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Lebanon, Djibouti, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Palestine, Bahrain, Bolivia, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and others.
Mainly EU member states, which charged the death penalty and insufficient protection of the rights of sexual minorities as a major human rights violation in Belarus supported the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Belarus. (Colombo Gazette)