ICJ and ICG on Sri Lanka

The International Commission of Jurists has issued a statement (November 29) calling on members of the Human Rights Council to:

- Remain seized of the situation in Sri Lanka and examine the human rights situation in detailed discussions during the third session of the Human Rights Council;

- Support the recommendation made by UN human rights experts (Special Procedures), and also the High Commissioner for Human Rights, that international protection mechanisms are needed in Sri Lanka, by encouraging discussions with the Sri Lankan Government to develop a plan to establish an international human rights field presence in Sri Lanka;

- Follow closely the work of the planned Presidential Commission of Inquiry and seek reports from the Sri Lankan Government, the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons and the High Commissioner for Human Rights about the Commission’s progress, including compliance with international standards on investigations of past human rights violations;

- Request the Government to invite the UN Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances to visit Sri Lanka;

- Fully consider the section of the report of the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict that relates to Sri Lanka, when it is released.

The International Crisis Group has issued its first report on Sri Lanka - “Sri Lanka: The Failure of the Peace Process.” Among other findings:

Most concerning is the failure of domestic institutions to address the human rights crisis. The Human Rights Commission, set up in 2001, has been plagued by a constitutional crisis about appointments to it and is starved of funds. A new ministry of human rights has yet to make an impact. The security forces have routinely ignored or covered up abuses. Inquiries into serious massacres and killings have produced no prosecutions. President Rajapakse’s proposal for a new presidential commission to investigate abuses has been met with some scepticism, given this history. Unless the new presidential commission confounds its critics and produces some real results, the increasing pressure for a credible, UN-led human rights monitoring presence will become much harder to resist.