The resolution at centre of showdown

The new draft,circulated on Tuesday,has also toned down the approach on the issue and encourages Sri Lanka to cooperate with special procedures mandate holders and respond to outstanding requests the earlier version had urged the government to do so.

Several other changes have been incorporated in the final version that is now guided by the universal deceleration of human rights,rather than the charter of the United Nations named in the earlier version.

The resolution welcomes the announcement about holding elections in the northern province in September and says that it is the responsibility of each state the earlier draft had said the responsibility is that of the government of Sri Lanka to uphold human rights of its entire population.

The resolution also welcomes and acknowledges the progress made by the Government of Sri Lanka in reconstruction activities for the internally displaced persons,but notes that considerable work lies ahead in the areas of reconciliation and resumption of livelihoods.

While the original March 12 draft had noted with concern the failure of the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfil its public commitments,the new draft does away with that while calling upon the government to do so. Words and phrases have been removed,including expeditiously from a portion calling upon the government to implement the recommendations of the human rights commission.

Sri Lanka has also been requested to present an oral report on the matter to the human right council,rather than an interim report and an interactive dialogue at the upcoming sessions of the human rights council that the earlier draft had called for.