Sri Lankan government today formally informed the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) its decision to withdraw from co-sponsoring the resolution on addressing of war crimes and accountability issues. Foreign minister Dinesh Gunawardena told the UNHRC session in Geneva that the previous government of Mahinda Rajapaksa before 2015 established domestic mechanisms to address issues related to accountability, rule of law and human rights. <br />'' <br />'' He said the previous government in January 2015 jettisoned this home-grown reconciliation process and co-sponsored the UNHRC resolution 30/1. The minister said the resolution seeks to cast upon Sri Lanka obligations that cannot be carried out within its constitutional framework and violates the basic structure of the constitution, prompting the government to reconsider its position. Asserting that the previous Government violated all democratic principles of governance, he said it sought no cabinet approval and there was no reference to the Parliament on the process. <br />'' <br />'' Mr. Gunawardena said the deliberate polarization it sought to cause made Sri Lanka a 'pawn' on the chess board of global politics, and unnecessarily drew it away from its traditional neutrality. He said with the election of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa with an overwhelming majority, the people of Sri Lanka have given a clear signal for their wish for a different path forward and to find home-grown solutions to overcome contemporary challenges in the best interest of all Sri Lankans. <br />'' <br />'' He said notwithstanding withdrawing from co-sponsorship of the resolution, Sri Lanka remains committed to achieving the goals on accountability and human rights, towards sustainable peace and reconciliation through an inclusive, domestically designed and executed process. This would comprise the appointment of a commission of Inquiry (COI) headed by a Justice of the Supreme Court, to review the reports of previous Sri Lankan commissions which investigated alleged violations of human rights and to propose deliverable measures to implement them keeping in line with the new Government's policy.<br />''  <br />