UPDATE(Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka must ratify the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has previously informed you through several appeals regarding the case of Ms. Rizana Nafeek who is facing the death sentence by beheading in Saudi Arabia and who has now succeed in filing an appeal before the Supreme Court in Saudi Arabia with the help of several financial donors. Even though the initial stage for her appeal before the Court has been launched, the possibilities of other Sri Lankan migrant workers facing similar situations such as the death sentence or rigorous imprisonment still exist because the legal protection that should be provided by their government is not guaranteed due to the government’s failure to ratify the international law able to protect its citizen.

As many appeals are proceeding on behalf of Ms. Rizana Nafeek and also as an appeal has been lodged in the Dawadami Court, several other important matters regarding the protection of migrant workers, like Rizana, have come to the forefront of the public debate.

One such issue is the need for the Sri Lankan government to ratify the Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes associated with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. While many countries in a similar situation as Sri Lanka have signed this Optional Protocol, including Sri Lanka’s neighbouring countries of India, Pakistan and Nepal, Sri Lanka has not yet done so.

Ratification of this Optional Protocol will bring many benefits to Sri Lanka and in particular, the migrant workers who are in employed in countries where certain laws and procedures may not be in conformity with international norms and standards, thereby permitting disputes to arise that require compulsory settlement. The beheading the four Sri Lankan earlier, the situation faced by Rizana Nafeek at present, and many other persons in many places in the Middle East in particular, raises the need for protective measures to be taken. One such measure is the signing of this particular protocol.

Sri Lanka acceded to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations in May, 2006. During this time there was a public outcry arising out the problem faced by three Sri Lankan who were facing the death sentence and another facing 15 years of rigorous imprisonment in Saudi Arabia. As a result of this outcry the government acceded to the Convention but did not proceed at the same time to ratify the Optional Protocol concerning Compulsory Settlement of Disputes, which would have provided the government with several advantages in dealing with these cases.

Though the government has acceded to the Vienna Convention, it has not yet put in place a system to exercise its rights under this convention to promptly arrange for the legal representation of its nationals in foreign custody. Such right to intervene for legal representation already exists as Sri Lanka now is a signatory to the convention.

To gain further advantage Sri Lanka should promptly ratify the Optional Protocol mentioned above.

For further information on the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations please see these links:
http://www.dailymirror.lk/2005/04/08/opinion/1.asp
http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/07/23/opinion/02.asp

For details of the case, please see: UA-207-2007, UP-093-2007, AHRC-OL-022-2007, UG-004-2007, AS-155-2007, AS-156-2007, UP-097-2007, AS-158-2007, AS-160-2007, AS-163-2007, AS-162-2007, AS-165-2007, AS-169-2007, AHRC-OL-023-2007.

__________________________

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the Sri Lankan authorities requesting the urgent ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER