The Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) downgraded the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) from Status A to Status B in October 2007 for failing to act independently and in accordance with the Paris Principles. On 21 May 2008, the UN General Assembly turned down Sri Lanka’s application for re-election to serve in the 47-member Council from 2008 to 2011. Sri Lanka was first elected as a member of the UNHRC in 2006.
In a February 2008 Note to members of the UNHRC, the Tamil Information Centre (TIC) listed concerns on human rights violations and impunity since 1985 raised by the UN treaty monitoring bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and Special Procedures mandate holders of the UN Human Rights Council such as the Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions.
The TIC said in the note that the Sri Lankan State had violated every democratic principle, undermined the rule of law and created widespread fear among the people. It pointed out that the government encouraged impunity, and the security forces and State officers were directly involved in extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrest and detention, abductions for ransom, torture, sexual abuse, disappearances and aerial bombardment of populated areas. The government had curtailed freedoms of expression and association and had targeted human rights defenders for intimidation, abduction and assassination. It also noted that widespread and systematic human rights violations continued in Sri Lanka since the 1980s and the Sri Lankan State had played a prominent role in the abuses, as recorded by UN agencies and international human rights organizations. The TIC said that in these conditions, when none of the State institutions, the Executive, the Legislature or the Judiciary, is providing protection to the people, international intervention had become necessary to protect the civilian population.
In a 14 March 2008 response to the TIC Note, the government Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) sought to discredit the TIC by accusing it of misrepresentation and supporting the LTTE. The SCOPP, which has acquired reputation as the “War Secretariat”, and other government agencies are blatantly engaged in the manipulation of information, promoting war and human rights violations, contrary to the purpose for which they had been created, without even a little attempt to address the issues raised by human rights agencies. These agencies and government officers have continued to attack organizations and individuals for raising concerns over legitimate issues. While the Sri Lankan government says it is fully cooperating with human rights bodies, government agencies and officers have launched virulent attacks UN institutions, human rights activists and international human rights organizations in a manner unbecoming of a democratic nation which is expected to respect human values and human rights. In March 2008, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) accused the Sri Lankan government of misrepresenting ICRC’s confidential information to defend its abysmal human rights record.
In an aide-mémoire outlining voluntary pledges attached to a letter dated 31 March 2008 to the President of the UN General Assembly seeking re-admission to the UNHRC, Sri Lanka says it has undertaken international legal obligations by becoming party to the seven core human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Sri Lanka acceded to the ICCPR in 1980 and to its First Optional Protocol in 1997 allowing individuals to make complaints to the UN Human Rights Committee. The Sri Lankan Supreme Court decided in 2006 that accession to the ICCPR did not create additional rights for citizens without the Sri Lankan Parliament enacting the provisions of the ICCPR into Sri Lankan law. The Court also held that the accession to the First Optional Protocol was unconstitutional, because of its view that recognition of the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Committee would tantamount to alienation of the sovereign judicial power of the people of Sri Lanka. In effect, the Supreme Court took away the existing rights of the people of Sri Lanka in relation to human rights.
The Sri Lankan government passed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, No. 56 of 2007 in 2007. Sri Lanka’s aide-mémoire says that he “ICCPR Act fills lacunae in the existing domestic legislation”. But this law contains only a few substantive rights and has not included several core rights contained in the ICCPR such as the right to life. The Supreme Court, which has increasingly become a tool of the Executive to carry out its nefarious programmes, has ruled that the jurisdiction of the High Court in the Act should be limited to ‘residual rights’ that are not within constitutional rights. An intention for introducing the law seems to be to mislead the international community and qualify for international aid rather than grant the rights contained in the ICCPR to the people.
The aide-mémoire also claims that Sri Lanka has followed a consistent policy of cooperation as well as open and constructive engagement with the special procedures mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights as well as the Human Rights Council and that such cooperation and engagement is demonstrated by the extension of regular invitations to such mechanisms to undertake visits to Sri Lanka. But the UN Special Rapporteurs and Special Representatives have severely criticized the Sri Lankan government and have unequivocally stated that Sri Lanka has failed in several international obligations. Many of their recommendations have not been implemented by Sri Lanka.
The aide-mémoire further says that as “a manifestation of its commitment to engage with the international community in ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights of all its citizens, Sri Lanka established an International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), a unique mechanism, to observe the work of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) which was set up at national level to investigate into alleged abductions, disappearances, and extra judicial killings”. The IIGEP expressed concern that the conduct of the Presidential Commission if Inquiry is inconsistent with international norms and standards and pointed to a number of problems. It called upon the Commission and the Sri Lankan government to comply effectively with international norms and standards in order to achieve the objectives of the Commission’s mandate, and noted that no effective action has been taken to remedy the situation. In March 2008, the IIGEP said that there is a climate of threat, direct and indirect, to the lives of anyone who might identify persons responsible for human rights violations, including members of the security forces. It concluded that inherent and fundamental impediments inevitably lead to the conclusion that there has been and continues to be a lack of political and institutional will to investigate and inquire into the cases before the Commission, and announced termination of its role in the process.
The TIC has constantly called upon the government to establish mechanisms for human rights safeguards, witness protection and to investigate and clarify the fate and whereabouts of the thousands of people who have disappeared, and bring perpetrators to justice. The TIC has continued this task based on the reality that there is an “accountability deficit” on the part of the Sri Lankan State which it needs to address and ensure that adequate mechanisms are available to the people. In a press release on 7 May 2008, the TIC welcomed the Sri Lankan government decision to establish 24-hour telephone hotlines for information about arrests, abductions and disappearances. The Ministry for Human Rights says 146 complaints were received within 16 days.
According to government Vocational Training Minister P Rathakrishnan, 93 Tamil disappearances, mainly in Colombo, Moneragala, Galle and Trincomalee areas, had been reported between 16 January and 15 May 2008. At least 12 people were later found to be in security force custody. No information or arrest receipts had been provided to the families as required by the Presidential Directives. Abductions are taking place almost every day, including in the capital. The Minister says 22 people released by the abductors had suffered severe torture. According to eye witnesses, abductions are carried out by persons in military-type uniforms arriving in white vans, who are able to freely move about even in high security areas. On 7 May 2008, Sellathurai Selvakumar was abducted in a white van at Wellawatte in Colombo. Residents of Karaveddy in Jaffna, Selliah Selvarajah and his wife Nirmaladevi were abducted by masked gunmen on 14 May. Two days later, Edwardrajah Vasantharuban was abducted in Valvettithurai, Jaffna. Between 9 and 15 May, 15 people were abducted in Trincomalee District. Gunaratnam Jeyarajah of Modera in Colombo was a victim of abduction on 22 May. Minister Rathakrishnan has also revealed that 290 Tamils are detained in prisons, police stations and detention centres, most without charge. More than 190 Tamils, including nine women, are held in the Boossa camp in Galle District under extremely poor conditions without adequate basic needs such as food and medicine.
Sri Lanka included a list of 18 commitments in the aide-mémoire to the UN General Assembly, including efforts to strengthen its national mechanisms and procedures to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens. Sri Lanka’s rejection by the General Assembly also indicates that there is increasing unwillingness to trust the government on its commitments on human rights. Government ministers and officials have reacted with anger following the UNHRC election and there is grave doubt that any of these commitments will be fulfilled. The government has appointed a committee apparently to “argue” the case for Sri Lanka internationally. It is time that Sri Lankan government realized that no amount of argument will convince anyone while human rights are violated with impunity. The TIC calls upon the Sri Lankan government act responsibly, overhaul its policies and programmes on human rights and take honest and effective measures to fulfill its commitments and discharge its international obligations, focusing on transparency, accountability and oversight.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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