Colombo told to reassess rights policy

Colombo: An international rights group yesterday urged Sri Lanka's government to reassess its human rights policies after the war-torn island nation lost its re-election bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

New York-based Human Rights Watch in a statement called the vote "a wake-up call for the Sri Lankan government" and said the country had only itself to blame for not getting re-elected to the UN's most important human rights body.

Sri Lanka, which has been strongly criticised for its human rights record, lost its bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, but some other countries with not-so-good rights records won seats, such as Pakistan, Gabon and Zambia.

The election for 15 seats on the 47-member council, whose performance has also come under attack, was the subject of intense lobbying.