Sri Lankan Foreign minister claims the country has taken "substantial steps" with a view to "accountability restorative justice and meaningful reconciliation", a week after the Tamil families of the disappeared marked five years of continuous protest.
Peris addressed 83 heads of mission accredited to Sri Lanka in a virtual briefing on Tuesday. The briefing was timed ahead of the 49th session of the UNHRC, where Sri Lanka has faced international pressure on issues related to human rights, justice and accountability.
During his briefing to the New-Delhi based diplomats, the Foreign Secretary said
"Sri Lanka has undertaken substantial steps with a view to accountability, restorative justice and meaningful reconciliation which were efforts due to the work of domestic institutions namely the Office for Reparations (OR), Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), Office of Missing Persons (OMP), the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and the Sustainable Development Council (SDC)"
Sri Lanka's withdrawal from the UNHRC resolution in 2020 that mandated an accountability mechanism for the prosecution of mass atrocities, has been coupled with an increasingly militarised state which has targeted Tamils and Muslims under the Rajapaksa regime. The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) has been routinely rejected by Tamil civil society groups, including the families of the disappeared,
Last year, former Inspector General of Police, Hapu Arachchige Jayantha Shantha Kumara Wickremaratne was appointed to the Office of Missing Persons despite the widespread outcry.
"It’s hard to make this up – the man who was in charge of three police units named by the United Nations investigation as involved in mass enforced disappearances at the end of the war is now investigating the disappearances himself," commented, Executive Director of the International Truth and Justice Project, Yasmin Sooka.
Human Rights Watch has raised similar concerns noting the “limited progress” of the OMP and its failure to ““win the trust of victim’s families”. They highlight that the appointment of Wickremaratne as well as Upali Abeyrathne, who led last year’s commission seeking to exonerate alleged perpetrators, gravely undermined its independence.
Read more here: ‘The international community must accept that the OMP is incapable’ - Families of the Disappeared
Peiris then went on to comment on the proposed amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA),
"The PTA is being amended after lengthy deliberations over several months and the proposed amendments are an initial step towards the promulgation of a more comprehensive anti-terror legislation,"
Protests have been ongoing across the north-east calling for the act to be repealed in recent weeks. Several leading Human Rights NGO's have also called for the act to be repealed.
Amnesty International have called on the Sri Lankan government to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and to issue an immediate moratorium on its use amidst increasing scrutiny over the draconian legislation.
The rights group criticised Sri Lanka’s recent announcement to ‘reform’ the PTA, stating that the gazetted amendments “fail to address critical gaps in the law.”
Following Sri Lanka's withdrawal from the UNHRC resolution, UN Special Rapporteur, Pablo de Greiff noted that Sri Lanka had missed a "historic opportunity" for transitional justice and holds a "dismal record on accountability".
Read more here: Sri Lanka has missed a ‘historic opportunity’ for transitional justice and holds a ‘dismal record’ on accountability - UN Special Rapporteur
Read more here.
