Mr. Colin Wrafter:

I thank Senator Daly for his questions. I very much sympathise with what he is saying in regard to Sri Lanka. We did make an intervention on that issue on 17 September in the context of a general debate at the council. We took that opportunity to express our serious concerns about human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, the treatment of prisoners incarcerated in connection with the conflict, enforced disappearances, torture and other human rights violations. We called for genuine reconciliation among all groups and communities in Sri Lanka, while noting that this would require justice and accountability for human rights violations in the past.

I acknowledge that sometimes the system does not deliver. Syria is a case in point, as is Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankans, through some very adept diplomacy, have managed to secure enough support to block effective action at the Human Rights Council.