The US today asked Sri Lanka to listen to the international community and implement the plan on human rights issues and devolution of power in the country.

“They should implement the plan that they have never implemented and they should listen to the words of the international community,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said, a day after a US-sponsored resolution on Colombo was passed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“We welcome the passage of this new resolution... We call on the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfil its obligations to its own people,” she said.

“The resolution very clearly expresses the support of the international community for Sri Lanka, addressing its outstanding issues related to reconciliation and for meeting its obligations for accountability, which it has not yet done,” Nuland said.

The US, she said, had made clear that if they didn’t take steps, they would see this kind of a resolution coming forward. “That was about six months ago, and we didn’t see any progress,” she said.

“We want to see the Sri Lankans take their own decisions. We have said before, if those are not forthcoming, the international community will look at whether there are other steps we can take,” Nuland said.

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