The United Nations International Law Commission, which is responsible for international legislation, is scheduled to vote in November this year to elect members for a five-year term from January 2023. Eight of the 34 members are elected from the Asia-Pacific region.
Mohan Peiris has been nominated by Sri Lanka for the post. He is currently the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York.
The International Project for Truth and Justice (ITJP) and the Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) condemn the Sri Lankan government’s nomination for “Enforced Disappearances, Murders, Torture and Rape UN member states have been asked not to vote for Mohan Peiris, who is accused of being “disgraced for failing to bind.”
JDS has also made a special appeal to media rights organizations around the world to support the nomination of Sri Lankan journalists who were in power in a repressed regime.
“Some of the recent work of the United Nations International Law Commission has dealt with areas such as immunity, extradition and crimes against humanity. All lawyers, and those concerned with a more just world doctrine, should urge members of the United Nations General Assembly not to vote for him, ”said Yasmin Sooka, executive director of the International Project for Truth and Justice (ITJP).