Sri Lanka, Oct. 15 -- Another session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which concerned Sri Lanka, concluded last week, this time thankfully without making a spectacle at home. Those who remember the not-so-distant past, when each session in Geneva coincided with an overpouring of pseudo-patriotism and paranoia in Colombo, and when State media unleashed venomous character assassinations of journalists and civil rights activists, this should come as a relief.

The government disengaged itself from the latest UNHRC resolution, which extended the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights. But it opted not to challenge the resolution for a v...