UNITED NATIONS, May 19 (UPI) -- Nobel Peace Prize winners are calling on the United Nations to reject Sri Lanka's candidacy for the U.N. Human Rights Council, human rights activists said.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Adolfo Perez Esquivel of Argentina have published statements individually condemning Sri Lanka's human rights record, the Coalition for an Effective Human Rights Council said in a statement Monday.
In a commentary published by Pagina 12 in Buenos Aires, Esquivel compared the torture and disappearances committed by Sri Lankan government forces to the "dirty wars" waged by some Latin American governments against their citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
Elections to the 47-member human rights council are scheduled for May 21. Bahrain, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Timor Leste are running for four seats allocated to Asian states.
Council members are required to "uphold the highest standards" of human rights and "fully cooperate" with the council.
