Sri Lanka Sends a Relentless Purveyor of Misinformation to Geneva

The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) have just issued a joint press release.

The organizations highlight concerns surrounding Mahinda Samarasinghe’s participation in the Sri Lankan government’s UN Human Rights Council (HRC) delegation.

The HRC’s 40th session is currently underway, and another resolution is expected to be passed on Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka is sending a politician to represent its government in Geneva who has systematically denied war crimes, threatened journalists and allegedly intimidated a father whose child was killed,” ITJP and JDS note.

Samarasinghe’s participation is clearly problematic, but it’s not surprising. Over the years at the HRC (including when Mahinda Rajapaksa was president), Samarasinghe has been a consistent purveyor of misinformation and pro-government propaganda.

Sri Lanka isn’t serious about the commitments — related to human rights and transitional justice — that it has made at the HRC. And Colombo doesn’t need more time to follow through on promises it never had any intention of keeping. Samarasinghe’s HRC participation is yet another reminder of that.