The statement:
We reproduce below European Parliamentarian Sajjad Karim’s questions to the European Commissioner for External Relations and her response dated 12 October 2006. The questions address the need for international human rights monitoring.
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http://sajjadkarim.org.uk/pages/PQs2.html
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3722/06 by Sajjad Karim (ALDE) to the Commission
Subject: International monitoring mission for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a humanitarian and human rights disaster-in-the-making. Since the end of July the rate of reported killings throughout the island has doubled. Half the dead are civilians. The spectre of ‘disappearances’ has returned, as have increased detentions under emergency regulations. Over 50 000 men, women and children have been displaced by recent fighting, which includes air, sea and land attacks. Arms are being openly distributed to the population in border areas. At the same time, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission set up under the Ceasefire Agreement has been dismembered, with more than half its personnel being withdrawn. The national Human Rights Commission has been weakened: it is losing staff and its ability to function effectively is seriously in question.
Deeply alarmed by the descent into wider armed conflict and the desperate plight of those affected, the European Parliament stressed, in an Urgent Resolution at its May plenary session, ‘the need for an effective independent investigation into all alleged human rights violations by security forces or armed groups, bringing the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international fair trial standards, and insists that all parties should subscribe to comprehensive human rights agreements as a key element of future peace negotiations;’ and the ALDE Group specifically underscored ‘the need for a human rights agreement, to put human rights at the heart of the peace process, which is facilitated by an independent monitoring mission that complements the agreement on the ground; such a mission could be led by the EU and should be empowered with enforcement mechanisms and unhindered access to both government and LTTE-controlled areas.’
Does the Commission, as co-chair of the peace process, support the proposal for an independent international monitoring mission for Sri Lanka and if so, what steps does it plan to take in this regard?
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3723/06 by Sajjad Karim (ALDE) to the Commission
Subject: Report of UN Special Rapporteur re Sri Lanka
What is the Commission’s response to UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston’s recent report on Sri Lanka? Does the Commission agree with Prof Alston’s argument that human rights must be made central both to the peace process and the general system of governance? Does the Commission agree with the suggestion that the struggle for hearts and minds in Sri Lanka will be won by those who demonstrate that their actions, as well as their vision for the future, are solidly grounded in human rights?
What is the Commission’s view of each of the specific recommendations by Philip Alston? These include: the need for a wide-ranging human rights agreement, including an effective international human rights monitoring mechanism; the importance of all parties respecting common article 3 of the Geneva Conventions; renewed Government renunciation of collaboration with the Karuna group; arrangements to compensate the families of all non-combatants killed in the conflict; effective police investigation of all extrajudicial killings; a programme to train all police reservists in criminal detection and investigation; a programme to recruit Tamil and Tamil-speaking police officers, especially to work in the north and east; the immediate appointment of the members of the National Police Commission, and confirmation of its key role in promoting and disciplining police officers; ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC; the need for the LTTE to adopt concrete steps to demonstrate that it is serious about human rights, including issuing unequivocal denunciations of killings attributed to it but for which it denies responsibility; a commitment by the LTTE to refrain from human rights violations and to eschew collaboration with armed civilian proxies; an enhancement of the SLMM’s human rights work, pending a more comprehensive human rights monitoring initiative; and a human rights-based dialogue with the Tamil diasporas to be initiated by the Governments of all United Nations Member States in which there is a significant diaspora.
E-3722/06EN and E-3723/06EN
Answer given by Ms Ferrero-Waldner on behalf of the Commission (12.10.2006)
The Commission has examined the Report presented by United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Philip Alston and shares the analysis about the seriousness of the situation in relation to Human Rights, which are both at the root of the Sri Lanka conflict and one of the main direct consequences. There is no doubt that given the serious violations, Human Rights are gaining much more importance in the peace process and the discussions which are on-going concerning a possible settlement.
In relation to the specific recommendations contained in Philip Alston’s Report the Commission considers that they are well founded and they certainly deserve to be seriously considered by the parties and monitored by the international community. The recommendations will be raised in the framework of our dialogue with the Parties in Sri Lanka, which we sincerely hope will be receptive to finding solutions to these problems.
The Commission supports the proposal for the need to strengthen Human Rights monitoring. One possibility is to support an independent international monitoring mission for Sri Lanka, as suggested recently by the Special UN Rapporteur Philip Alston, but it is also important to work towards strengthening the national institutions which can guarantee a sustainable monitoring capacity.
The Commission is not alone in this assessment since this is shared by the international community at large. The Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference, Norway, the European Union, the United States of America (USA) and Japan met in Brussels on 12 September 2006 and issued a Statement which contains a whole paragraph devoted to Human Rights. Co-Chairs stated that “both parties must stop further violations of fundamental principles of Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. The Co-Chairs condemn the numerous violations, such as the disappearance and feared killings of large number of Muslims in Mutur, the murder of 17 aid workers from the French NGO Action Contre la Faim, the claymore attack on a civilian bus in June 2006 and the bombing of the school in Mullaitivu in August 2006. The Co-Chairs are particularly concerned that even major cases of human rights’ abuses are not successfully investigated or prosecuted. As in any modern state, the culture of impunity must stop.”
In order to look immediately at the country’s Human Rights situation, the Co-Chairs have offered to send a mission of high-level experts to review the current situation and suggest further actions before the end of October 2006. The experts would assess the state of local capacities and institutions with regards to protecting and monitoring human rights and humanitarian norms, and would make recommendations to address violations that have been committed and to establish sustainable mechanisms and structures that could prevent further violations by all parties involved. The experts would look at the potential for international support to improve the situation. The Commission believes that this could be a useful first step to deal with the existing crisis. As a member of the Sri Lanka Co-Chairs, the Commission will certainly continue to follow it and participate in the Co-Chairs Human Rights experts’ missions.
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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.
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