• SLFP thanks Maithri for 'achievements' at UN

    Sep 30

    The SLFP's vice president, Nimal Siripala de Silva thanked President Maithripala Sirisena for his "achievements" at the UN and said Sri Lanka's delegation had been successful in watering down the resolution to some extent, the Daily Mirror reported.

    However the minister said the implementation of recommendations given by the OHCHR Investigation in Sri Lanka (OISL) would create legal issues and be problematic to implement.

    “The UNHRC report says that Sri Lanka needs to adopt feasibility legislation, specific legislation to facilitate a hybrid court mandated to probe war crimes committed by security forces personnel. We will need to change our Constitution in order to make room for a hybrid court, and we can’t make these happen overnight,” he said to press on Thursday.

  • Ranil confident about lifting of GSP+ sanctions

    Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government would request the EU to reissue the GSP+ trade concessions, as the human rights issue "had come to an end", the DailyMirror reported.

    Speaking to trade unionists on Wednesday, the prime minister said Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera would make the request from the European Union on Thursday.

    Earlier this year the prime minster had pledged that the concessions would be restored after September's UN Human Rights Council session.

    The previous government had blamed Mr Wickremesinghe for the concessions being withdrawn, after the EU stated it was concerned over human rights abuses.

  • Deeply concerned about serious weaknesses in the resolution says Wigneswaran
    Welcoming the fact that the UN Human Rights Council is today expected to adopt a resolution calling for accountability in Sri Lanka, the chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran said he however remained "deeply concerned about some of the serious weaknesses in the resolution, which unless addressed could lead to the failure of this whole process."

    "The importance of creating a mechanism which can gain the support and confidence of the victims cannot be overemphasized. The resolution's failure to clearly propose such a mechanism is a matter of grave concern," he wrote in a letter sent to key UNHRC member states on Wednesday.

    "The resolution is important in that it sets a number of markers and makes a number of key recommendations - but it largely relies on the goodwill of the government to implement those recommendations."

    "Regrettably the government's successful attempt to remove from the resolution several key references to ongoing abuses of human rights, the militarization of the north and east and other key issues does not inspire confidence in that goodwill."

  • Ranil reiterates foreign judges will work under 'Sri Lankan laws and hierarchies'
    Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government had protected Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, by averting an international mechanism to prosecute violations of international humanitarian law and ensuring foreign judges work under 'Sri Lanka's law and hierarchies', reports Colombo Page.

    Mr Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka’s constitution guarantees the country’s sovereignty and that foreign judges would have to work in accordance with Sri Lankan law. He had stated earlier that foreign judges can be consulted but not actually involved in proceedings.

    The prime minister went on to say that the UN resolution was not about the conduct of the Sri Lankan military “but their primary concern was the impartiality of our courts".

    Speaking at the National Management Conference in Colombo, Mr Wickremesinghe assured a domestic mechanism would take place and that a “compassionate council” would be set up, and would include Buddhist monks.

    When questioned over whether the UN resolution would lead to Sri Lankan withdrawing the military from the North and East, the prime minister noted the resolution did not mention any demilitarisation.
  • Children in Vavuniya call for their imprisoned fathers to be released

    Children of Tamil political prisoners held a demonstration in the Eranai Elupikkaikulam region of Vavuniya on Tuesday, calling for their fathers, who have been incarcerated for years without charge under Sri Lanka's draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.


  • Sri Lanka seeks to increase number of UN peacekeepers

    The Sri Lankan president said his government wants to contribute more troops to United nations peacekeeping missions, addressing the Leaders' Summit on Peacekeeping at the United Nations in New York on Monday.

    Maithripala Sirisena said “Sri Lanka is pleased to reiterate our continued commitment to UN peacekeeping” stating there would be “significant contributions from the Sri Lanka Army, Air Force and Police”.

    “We are committed to ensuring the best possible training and assessment of peacekeepers in Sri Lanka to uphold the highest standards of peacekeeping,” he added.

    Mr Sirisena pledged two Combat Transport Companies, two Field Engineering platoons, one infantry battalion, two Special Force Companies, one Combat Engineering Company, three Infantry Battalions, one Explosive Ordinance Disposal Company and one Force Protection Company, in addition to two Formed Police Units.

    Sri Lankan troops have been accused of sexually abusing Haitian minors whilst on a previous peacekeeping mission. 111 soldiers and 3 officers were repatriated back to Sri Lanka after being part of UN mission in Haiti and were accused of a string of sexual assaults, including rape of children as young as 7 years old.

    No one has yet been charged with any offences.

  • Opposition MPs call for referendum on inclusion of foreign judges
    Opposition MPs in Sri Lanka called for a national referendum on the inclusion of foreign judges in a domestic justice mechanism as detailed in the resolution to be adopted by the UN Human Rights Council, reports the Daily Mirror.

    “If the people feel they are fine with the UNHRC recommendations and a court with foreign judges and investigators to probe alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, then the government can go ahead with the proposals. We also request the people to urge their MPs to vote against an Act to be tabled in parliament asking for the approval of the UN recommendations,” UPFA MP, Wimal Weerawamsa was quoted by the paper as saying at a press conference on Tuesday.

    Urging the government to refrain from co-sponsoring the resolution, MP Dinesh Gunawardane said, “co-sponsoring a resolution is similar to writing one’s own death certificate and is a bad precedent to other countries. This move has also put our allies in a difficult situation."

  • Cannot blame people who are sceptical of domestic process says TNA leader
    The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan, said those sceptical of a judicial process in Sri Lanka could not be blamed due to previous negative experiences.

    Referring to the consensus resolution due to be adopted by the UN Human Rights Council today which calls for a Sri Lankan court with the participation of "Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers, and authorized prosecutors and investigators", Mr Sampanthan said in an interview to The Hindu that such inclusion would give it a “much greater degree of credibility”.

    “You can’t blame the people who are sceptical because the previous experiences were quite bad," he added.

    “This is perhaps the best possible resolution that could have been achieved at the UNHRC on the basis of a consensus," he said.

  • Hybrid special court essential to give victims confidence in process reiterates UN Human Rights chief
    Introducing the debate on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) at the UNHRC's 30th session on Wednesday, the High Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, reiterated the report's recommendation that a hybrid special court be established in order to give confidence to the victims and their families in the process of justice and accountability.

    Listing the key reasons why a domestic process would not be successful in Sri Lanka, the High Commissioner said,

    "This is why I have recommended the establishment of an ad hoc hybrid special court, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators, mandated to try notably war crimes and crimes against humanity, with its own independent investigative and prosecuting organ, defence office and witness and victims protections programme."

    "In a highly polarized environment, such a mechanism is essential to give all Sri Lankans, especially victims, confidence in the independence and impartiality of this process."

  • Children of Tamil political prisoners protest in Jaffna

    More children of Tamil political prisoners have called for the release of their fathers.

     
    Protesting in Jaffna on Wednesday, Tamil children called for the release of their fathers that have been held for years without trial under Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act.

     
    The protest continues a ripple of demonstrations by children across the North-East calling for their fathers' release.
  • Strong calls for Sri Lanka to implement said commitments and deliver justice as OISL discussed at UNHRC

    Updated 01 Oct 2015 09:21 GMT

    There were strong calls from member states at the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday for the new Sri Lankan government to deliver concrete steps on its said commitments towards justice and accountability, as the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) was discussed at the Council.

    Find our live coverage of the discussion on our Twitter feed     here.

    Introducing the debate High Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, reiterated the report's recommendation that a hybrid special court be established in order to give confidence to the victims and their families in the process of justice and accountability.

  • OISL recommendations will ‘receive due attention’ says Sri Lanka

    Sri Lanka said that the recommendations of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL) will “receive due attention”, in a statement delivered to the UN Human Rights Council today.

    Sri Lanka’s ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha told the council that the OISL report had “set out clearly the path we intend to take”.

    “We stated we take note of the Report of the OISL and that we will ensure that its content as well as recommendations receive due attention of the relevant authorities including the new mechanisms that are envisaged to be set up,” he added.

    Earlier the High Commissioner had     reiterated one of  the reports key recommendations – “the establishment of an ad hoc hybrid special court, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators, mandated to try notably war crimes and crimes against humanity, with its own independent investigative and prosecuting organ, defence office and witness and victims protections programme”.

  • EU calls for ‘immediate adoption of essential confidence building measures’ for victims in Sri Lanka

    The European Union called on the Sri Lankan government to implement the “immediate adoption of essential confidence building measures” for the victims of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict.

    In a statement delivered to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the EU said it expresses its “deepest solidarity with the victims and their relatives” and had “sincere admiration for the manner in which victims have contributed to the work of the OISL and have placed their confidence in the Human Rights Council”.

    Stating the tabled resolution on Sri Lanka “marks a crucial step towards a credible transitional justice process... with the active support and participation of the international community”, the EU said:

    “The full implementation of these commitments is now needed, starting with prompt action on a fully participatory national consultation, especially with the victims, for the design of a comprehensive justice process and the immediate adoption of essential confidence building measures”.

  • Resolution is not an end in itself says UK
    Whilst welcoming the Sri Lankan government's commitments to deliver justice, the UK, in its address to the UN Human Rights Council debate on the OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka report (OISL) stressed that the resolution being discussed was not an end in itself.

    "We warmly welcome the constructive approach that the government of Sri Lanka has taken during this session to agreeing a consensual resolution. However, the UK recognises that this resolution is not an end in itself, but the start of a process that will require commitment from all parties if it is to deliver meaningful reconciliation and long-term peace and stability in Sri Lanka."

    Welcoming the OISL report's conclusions and recommendations, the UK said "without facts, there can be no justice, no end to impunity and no reconciliation.

    "The report sets out a range of extremely grave human rights violations and abuses, committed by all sides in the conflict. While this account will be difficult for many in Sri Lanka, it was essential for the Council to have seen it and for the people of Sri Lanka. Without facts, there can be no justice, no end to impunity and no reconciliation. We therefore welcome the report's conclusions and recommendations. They provide an important basis for Sri Lanka and all those affected by the conflict and its aftermath to look to the future."

  • Estonia and Switzerland invite Sri Lanka to ratify Rome Statute of ICC

    Addressing the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) discussion the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL), Estonia and Switzerland invited Sri Lanka to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a guarantee against non-recurrence.

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