evidence: In the November 2019 presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the SLPP defeated his main opponent, Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa of the United National Party (UNP), 52 percent to 42 percent. [...] In February 2020 the government withdrew cosponsorship of UNHRC Resolution 30/1, on promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka, a move interpreted by rights groups as a signal that authorities did not intend to hold members of the military accountable for rights violations. In March 2020, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa pardoned an army staff sergeant sentenced to death for murdering eight Tamils, including three children, in 2000. In June 2021, the president also pardoned a former member of Parliament who had been sentenced to death for killing a political rival. International human rights groups criticized the "selective and arbitrary" pardons, saying Rajapaksa had prevented accountability and undermined the rule of law in the country.