Mar 22, 2018 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today highlighted at the UN the need for further action to address impunity in Sri Lanka and in Colombia.
The statement, delivered in a general debate at the UN Human Rights Council, responded to UN reports on Sri Lanka and Colombia, and read as follows:
Sri Lanka has not made sufficient progress on its commitments and obligations as reflected in Council resolution 30/1. Among the mechanisms contemplated, only the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) is operational. The process for establishing the other mechanisms, and the extent to which their composition will be based on the broad national public consultations carried out in 2016, remains unclear. The ICJ reiterates that, in line with operative paragraph 6 of resolution 30/1, the accountability mechanism cannot be seen as credible without involvement of international judges, prosecutors and investigators.
Furthermore, despite promises to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), arrests still take place. As the High Commissioner recommended, the PTA should be promptly repealed without waiting for replacement legislation. Any proposed counterterrorism law must comply with international human rights standards.
In Colombia, the ICJ shares OHCHR’s deep concern about the exclusion of non-military State agents and private individuals from the scope of mandatory application of the Integrated System of Justice, Truth, Reparations and Guarantees of Non-repetition (per paragraph 90 of the Report). Furthermore, four months of unjustified delay by the Government in accrediting the new representative of the OHCHR Office, which ended only yesterday, undermined the ability of the Office to provide adequate technical assistance to guarantee victims’ rights in the Integrated System, as provided for by the Peace Agreement.”
[Paragraph 6 of Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 provides that the Council, “Welcomes the recognition by the Government of Sri Lanka that accountability is essential to uphold the rule of law and to build confidence in the people of all communities of Sri Lanka in the justice system, notes with appreciation the proposal of the Government of Sri Lanka to establish a judicial mechanism with a special counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, as applicable; affirms that a credible justice process should include independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by individuals known for their integrity and impartiality; and also affirms in this regard the importance of participation in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, including the special counsel’s office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and authorized prosecutors and investigators;”]
Mar 19, 2018 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ spoke at the UN today on concerns about a resurgence of communal violence, and a failure to implement reconciliation and justice mechanisms, in Sri Lanka.
The statement, made during the adoption of the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review for Sri Lanka by the Human Rights Council, read as follows:
“The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has stated that it maintains zero tolerance for hate speech and religious violence, and that the National Human Rights Action Plan 2017–2021 contains a firm commitment to enforce section 3(1) of the ICCPR Act. The ICJ further notes that a circular was issued requiring all police officers to take immediate action in this regard. Despite these commitments, recent events demonstrate renewed conflict owing to communal violence directed at the Muslim minority. A state of emergency was proclaimed on 6 March following inaction from law enforcement, and its inability to contain the violence, and emergency regulations were in operation until yesterday.
The ICJ urges the government to demonstrate through action, its willingness bring to account those who have incited communal violence, in line with the ICCPR Act and the commitments conveyed by His Excellency the Ambassador here today. Pervading impunity has emboldened perpetrators to incite violent hatred publicly. Justice must follow recent arrests, ensuring impartial and effective investigations and trials, in line with human rights.
The ICJ also notes the limited progress made on implementing HRC resolution 30/1. Of the reconciliation mechanisms promised, only the Office on Missing Persons is operational. There is little transparency with regards to the other proposed mechanisms (including the mechanism on accountability with involvement of international judges, prosecutors and investigators), or in relation to repeal and replacement of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Any new counterterrorism law must comply with international human rights standards, and we welcome the Ambassador’s affirmation of the Government’s commitment to this today.
The ICJ urges Sri Lanka to accept and implement all relevant UPR recommendations without delay, before the opportunity for reform may be lost.”
Video of the ICJ statement is available here:
Video of the opening presentation by H.E. the Ambassador of Sri Lanka is available here:
Mar 8, 2018 | News
The Sri Lankan government must act swiftly and in line with human rights to prosecute those responsible for recent communal violence.
Particularly for attacks against the minority Muslim community in Kandy district, while avoiding the abusive practices of the past, said the ICJ today.
Sri Lanka’s President, Maithripala Sirisena, proclaimed an island-wide state of emergency on 6th March 2018, following a curfew imposed in several areas since Monday.
The action came following a spate of attacks against members of the Muslim community that was spreading in the Kandy district, following attacks in Ampara last week, in Gintota in 2016, and Aluthgama in 2014.
“The government must show that it will bring to account those who have incited communal violence, particularly notorious figures who have been emboldened by the pervading impunity to preach hatred openly and publicly. The arrest of key suspects yesterday is a start and convictions must follow,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Asia director.
“But the government must ensure that its investigation is impartial and effective and follows due process of the law,” he added.
The ICJ called upon the government of Sri Lanka to swiftly prosecute those responsible for inciting and carrying out the communal violence using existing legal provisions in the Penal Code and the ICCPR Act, the latter of which prohibits advocating “national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.”
The ICJ is concerned that the Emergency Regulations issued by the President through powers under the Public Security Ordinance, confer excessively broad powers on the army and the police to search, arrest and investigate.
“Given Sri Lanka’s experience of Emergency Regulations, the government should ensure that these regulations are time-bound and comply with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations, including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” said Rawski.
The government has further restricted access to selected instant messaging applications and social media platforms “as an extraordinary but temporary response to limit the increasing spread of hate speech and violence through social media websites and phone messaging applications.”
“Blocking social media and other communication channels, even with the best of intentions, typically has the negative effect of restricting affected persons from seeking assistance, journalists from reporting around the situation and may actually undermine efforts to counter violence and hate speech. Any such measures should be narrowly targeted and limited in time,” said Rawski.
“A better approach would be for the Sri Lankan government to aggressively push back against these hateful narratives by demonstrating in actions as well as its rhetoric that Sri Lanka is a diverse country in which all of its citizens’ rights are respected and protected equally,” he added.
Background
Chapter XVIII of the Constitution and the Public Security Ordinance of Sri Lanka empowers the President to make emergency regulations in the interest of ‘public security and the preservation of public order or for the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community.’ Sri Lanka has a history of governance using emergency powers, which in the past has posed a challenge for democratic governance and human rights, providing law enforcement with wide powers, circumventing ordinary checks and balances.
The President, while justifying circumstances that led to his proclamation of a state of emergency, has stated that he “has given special instructions the Police and the tri-forces to take action in terms of these regulations, in a lawful manner in good faith while ensuring minimum disturbance to the life and well-being of people, in conformity with Fundamental Human Rights of people.”
Aug 24, 2017 | News
On the one-year anniversary of the enactment of a law establishing the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), the ICJ called on the Sri Lankan Government to swiftly operationalize the Office.
The ICJ also urged the Government to set up other transitional justice mechanisms it committed to in the context of a key 2015 UN Human Rights Council resolution, without further delay.
On 23 August 2016, the OMP Act received the Speaker’s assent and became law. Even after one year, however, the Office has not been operationalized.
Organizations have reportedly made the claim that the President has unconstitutionally allocated the subject of the OMP to himself.
The Government’s failure to follow Constitutional provisions when setting up an important office such as the OMP, which has a permanent mandate to search and trace the whereabouts of “missing persons”, leaves the office exposed to future uncertainty- a move that affected communities can ill afford after a long and unjustifiable delay in setting up the OMP, the ICJ notes.
“The delay has already resulted in affected communities losing hope and faith in the Government’s transitional justice agenda, as is evident by continuous protests in the North,” said Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Asia and Pacific Director.
The ICJ noted that in September 2015, the Government of Sri Lanka made a promise to the people of Sri Lanka and the international community, to initiate a process of reconciliation which “involves addressing the broad areas of truth seeking, justice, reparations and non-recurrence and for non-recurrence to become truly meaningful, the necessity of reaching a political settlement that addresses the grievances of the Tamil people”.
In the context of UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, adopted 1 October 2015, the Government of Sri Lanka made a commitment to establish four main transitional justice mechanisms, a Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence, an Office on Missing Persons, an Office for Reparations and a Judicial Mechanism with a Special Counsel, amongst numerous other reforms.
Almost two years since these promises were made, only one mechanism, the OMP, has been established by law.
In March 2017, the need for implementation of these commitments related to reconciliation, accountability and human rights were reaffirmed, and a comprehensive report, followed by a discussion on the implementation of Council resolution 30/1, is due at the Human Rights Council’s 40th session in March 2019.
The Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms (CTF), a panel of 11 independent eminent persons appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, publicly released its final report on 3 January 2017.
The report already outlines structures and recommendations for the promised mechanisms based on country-wide consultations.
The ICJ called on the government of Sri Lanka to implement Task Force recommendations to deliver justice for victims of human rights abuse.
“The Government of Sri Lanka should make public its plans and drafts for the proposed mechanisms based on consultations, as well as a timeline for when it hopes to establish them, in order to stop further erosion of faith by the affected communities,” Rawski added.
In February, President Sirisena affirmed that he will prioritize Constitutional Reform over Transitional Justice-related reforms adding that there is a need to foster support for Transitional Justice amongst all communities.
The linkages between the two reform processes are many and one process cannot be seen independent of the other.
There is, however, very little progress on either front or a broad-based campaign to garner support for transitional justice, the ICJ said.
Two years into its tenure, the Government of Sri Lanka must take stock of its commitments and forge ahead with its reform agenda before the increasingly negative perception of the Government compromises the change it pledged and incumbency fatigue sets in, the ICJ added.
“The Government must act, and act now, to stop the disconnect between the hopes of affected communities and the lack of substantive progress of the transitional justice agenda from growing further, and deliver on its commitments before the opportunity for progressive reform is lost for good,” Rawski added.
Contact:
Frederick Rawski, ICJ’s Asia Pacific Regional Director (Bangkok), e: frederick.rawski(a)icj.org
Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, ICJ’s National Legal Advisor (Sri Lanka), e: thyagi.ruwanpathirana(a)icj.org
Mar 30, 2017 | Advocacy
The ICJ submitted information to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in advance of its review of Sri Lanka under the third cycle of the UPR mechanism during its 28th session in November 2017.
The ICJ submission focuses on concerns about Sri Lanka’s respect for its human rights obligations relating to ongoing issues of:
- Transitional justice;
- Enforced disappearance;
- Torture and other ill-treatment;
- Detention;
- Counter-terrorism; and
- Impunity.
SriLanka-UPR Submission March17-Advocacy-non legal submissions-2017-ENG (full text in PDF)
