Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:06:57 +0100
From: CommonwealthNet <CommonwealthNet@interights.org
Subject: Sri Lanka found guilty of serious human rights abuses by UN Human
Rights Committee
In a case brought by leading Sri Lankan human rights lawyer Mr V.S. Ganesalingam of the NGO Home for Human Rights, together with international NGO INTERIGHTS, Sri Lanka has been held to account for the torture and arbitrary death in police custody of an 18 year old student, Sathasivam Sanjeevan.
Mr Sanjeevan’s parents brought the claim to the Human Rights Committee, the body which monitors compliance with the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Sri Lanka is a party. The Committee found that the Sri Lankan State had deprived Mr Sanjeevan of both his right to life and right not to be subjected to torture, both guaranteed under the Covenant. This failure was compounded by the lack of any effective recourse to justice for Mr Sanjeevan or his parents.
Following his arbitrary arrest in October 1998 Mr Sanjeevan was subjected to repeated beatings and torture in custody, leaving him with such extensive injuries he was unable to stand. He then suffered four fatal gunshot wounds, which police claim were inflicted as a as result of an ambush by separatist fighters. However, subsequent inquests failed to confirm the police account and it took a further two and half years and interventions by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture before Sri Lanka’s Attorney General confirmed that the police version of events was false. Despite this confirmation, no criminal proceedings for the torture or murder were instigated, the Attorney General simply recommending disciplinary action for the perpetrators.
In the decade which has followed, Sri Lanka has never acknowledged responsibility for what occurred, pursued a criminal investigation against those considered responsible or offered any redress to Mr Sanjeevan’s family. The Sri Lankan State failed to offer any explanation of the events to the Committee, which found it directly responsible for the arbitrary deprivation of Mr Sanjeevan’s life. The Committee also found that Sri Lanka had submitted Mr Sanjeevan to inhuman treatment and torture as well as failing to investigate the events or to provide any effective remedy.
In concluding its examination, the Committee noted that Sri Lanka is under an obligation to provide the victim and his family with an effective remedy including the initiation and pursuit of criminal proceedings and payment of appropriate compensation whilst taking measures to ensure such violations do not recur in the future. It has been given 180 days to respond on what measures it is taking to implement the decision.
The Sri Lankan government now faces an important challenge: whether to abide by the Committee’s decision and honour its international law commitments, or to ignore the Committee and sanction immunity. Mr Sanjeevan’s family have already waited nearly a decade for justice, how much longer they wait will depend on Sri Lanka’s response to this decision.
For further information please contact: Iain Byrne, Senior Lawyer, Interights. Tel: +44 207 843 0483 /
<mailto:ibyrne@interights.orgibyrne@interights.org
Notes
1. The views of the Committee on this case, logged as communication 1436/2005, were handed down by the Human Rights Committee on July 8th 2008. Sri Lanka was found in breach of Articles 2(3), 6 and 7 of the ICCPR.
2. INTERIGHTS (<www.interights.htmwww.interights.org) is a UK registered charity based in London which protects and promotes human rights through the use of law. It brings litigation in key test cases worldwide.
3. Home for Human Rights
(<http://www.hhr-srilanka.org/hhr/index.phphttp://www.hhr-srilanka.org/hhr/index.php) works to preserve and protect the human rights and freedoms of people in Sri Lanka. It is one of the country’s oldest human rights groups.
4. INTERIGHTS holds consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the Council of Europe, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and is accredited to the Commonwealth Secretariat.
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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984. The above statement has only been forwarded by the AHRC.
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