U.N. rights body backs Sri Lankan resolution on war

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Wednesday celebrating Sri Lanka's victory over Tamil rebels, ignoring Western-led calls for aid for refugees and political rights for minorities.

The United States, which does not currently have a vote in the 47-member body, had joined other governments in saying Sri Lanka should ensure nearly 300,000 people who fled their homes in the final throes of its civil war receive the aid they need.

But in an unusual move, Sri Lanka itself submitted a resolution stressing its sovereign right to act without outside interference, which the Human Rights Council approved.

Colombo had balked at the decision to hold an extraordinary meeting about the last phase of its 26-year armed conflict, which it declared over last week when its troops killed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders.

Its resolution welcomed "the liberation by the government of Sri Lanka of tens of thousands of its citizens that were kept by the LTTE against their will as hostages," and appealed for financial support for the country's post-war reconstruction.

The United Nations estimates that between 80,000 and 100,000 people died in Colombo's conflict with the Tigers that erupted in 1983.

Regional powers battling internal conflicts of their own -- such as Russia with Chechnya, India with Kashmir, and China with Tibet -- backed the upbeat text along with Iran, Venezuela, Myanmar, Pakistan and other developing states.

The resolution passed by 29 votes to 12 with six abstentions. Those voting against it included Canada, Chile, France, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland and Britain.