COLOMBO: The 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted the resolution against Sri Lanka on alleged war crimes on Thursday with 24 countries voting in favour, 15 against and eight abstaining. India also voted in favour of the US-backed resolution.
Reacting to the adoption of the resolution, Sri Lanka said that it was a matter of "great satisfaction" for them that 15 countries voted with them "despite the intensity of pressure, in a variety of forms, exerted on them all".
A statement released by Sri Lanka said, "We convey to them our warm thanks and deep appreciation. We also thank sincerely the eight countries which, by abstaining, declined to support the Resolution."
Calling it a narrow margin, the statement further pointed "with 15 countries voting with Sri Lanka, and eight countries abstaining, the final result was that 23 countries, out of a total of 47 members of the Human Rights Council, did not support the Resolution, while 24 supported it".
Hitting out at those who voted against Sri Lanka, the statement said, "The most distressing feature of this experience is the obvious reality that voting at the Human Rights Council is now determined not by the merits of a particular issue but by strategic alliances."
The statement also attacked India without naming it, saying that some countries voted against Sri Lanka because of their "domestic political issues which have nothing to do with the subject matter of a resolution".
"This is a highly selective and arbitrary process not governed by objective norms or criteria of any kind. The implications of this were not lost on many countries."
"As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, our policy in respect of all matters will continue to be guided by the vital interests and wellbeing of the people of our country. It hardly requires emphasis that this cannot yield place to any other consideration," said Sri Lanka.