COLOMBO, Sept.
3 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has decided not to contest for a seat in the UN Human
Rights Council (UNHRC) during the elections this year, a top government
official said on Monday.
The official
told Xinhua on the condition of anonymity that the Sri Lankan government has
not made submissions to be elected among the five countries from Asia for the
council this year.
Elections to
fill 18 of the 47 seats of UNHRC will be conducted when the UN General Assembly
convenes in November at the UN headquarters in New York.
Sri Lanka lost
the vote when it last contested for a seat at the UNHRC in May 2008 amidst
allegations of human rights abuses taking place in the country, just a year
before the military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels following a 30 year war.
The government
official refused to give a reason as to why Sri Lanka had decided not to
contest for a permanent seat at the Human Rights Council this year.
In March this
year Sri Lanka lost a vote at the UNHRC when a resolution was presented against
the country by the United States.
The UNHRC
membership is based on equitable geographical distribution, and seats are
distributed among regional groups with the Group of African States getting 13
seats, Group of Asia- Pacific States 13, Group of Eastern European States 6,
Group of Latin American and Caribbean States 8 and Group of Western European
and other States 7.
As of last
month Pakistan, Japan,
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) , the Republic of Korea and Kazakhstan had
declared their candidacy for a seat in the Asian group.
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Editor: Yang
Lina
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