AHRC UA990312 Sri Lanka 12 March 1999
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION URGENT APPEAL
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The United Nation Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Report E/CN.4/1999/62 dated 28 December 1998 states that the Sri Lankan Government informed the Working Group it had established an inter-ministerial committee \”to examine expeditious ways of implementing the recommendations of the Commissions, including prosecution of identified offenders.\”
In the past year, Asian Human Rights Commission [AHRC]have issued several appeals on the issue of disappearances in Sri Lanka. Recent official figuresof over 26,000 disappearances are recorded. For detailed reports on this issue, kindly refer to AHRC’s website: www.disappearances.org
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Now that the UN working group has been informed of a high level governmentgroup who will consider actions to be taken on disappearances, we urge you to write to this committee to express your concern and ask for concrete action. As we have suggested in many occasions such concrete actions on the basis of findings of the three Presidential commissions set-up to investigate the disappearance are:
(A) As the commissions have established a systematic practice of disappearances to take action against all those who were responsible for establishing and carrying out such systematic practice to be brought to trial for committing a crime against humanity
(B) As Criminal investigations have not be conducted regarding most cases except about 200 cases, to take action to cause such criminal investigations to be conducted into these cases.
(C) To Cause prosecutions relating to all the cases.
(D) To remove from law enforcement agencies all persons connected with disappearances, directly or indirectly.
(E) To pay adequate compensation to victims families in terms of the international norms set out for such occasions.
(F) To take measures to help to allivate trauma cased to Victims families.
(G) To take action to help society to come terms with the difficult problems caused by disapperarances and to restore confidence that such past practices will not happen again.
SUGGESTED LETTER:
Dear Hon. Prof. G.L. Peiris,
We are happy to learn from the report of United Nations Working Group on Enforced or involuntary Disappearances E/CN.4/1999/62, dated 28 December 1998, that the government Sri Lanka had established an inter-ministerial committee \”to examine expeditious ways of implementing the recommendations of the Commissions, including prosecution of identified offenders\”.
We are very concerned with the large number disappearances happening in the country. We urge that the Committee take following actions to deal with the issue of over 26,000 officially recorded disappearances.
(A) As the commissions have established a systematic practice of disappearances to take action against all those who were responsible for establishing and carrying out such systematic practice to be brought to trial for committing a crime against humanity
(B) As Criminal investigations have not be conducted regarding most cases except about 200 cases, to take action to cause such criminal investigations to be conducted into these cases.
(C) To Cause prosecutions relating to all the cases.
(D) To remove from law enforcement agencies all persons connected with disappearances, directly or indirectly.
(E) To pay adequate compensation to victims families in terms of the international norms set out for such occasions.
(F) To take measures to help to allivate trauma cased to Victims families.
(G) To take action to help society to come terms with the difficult problems caused by disappearances and to restore confidence that such past practices will not happen again.
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To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Hon.Prof. G.L. Peiris, Inter-ministerial Committee on Disappearances, Ministry of Justice, Superior Courts complex, Colombo 12, Sri Lanka, Tel: 329044 or 433192 Fax: 320785
SEND COPIES TO:
Ms. N. Font de Berlioz, Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disapperance, Room D-121, UN Centre for Human Rights, United Nations Office, Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva 10, Switzerland, Tel: [4122] 917 3945, Fax: (4122) 917 0022, Email: nfontdeberlioz.hchr@unog.ch
Ambassador Dr. Warnasena Rasaputram, Embassy of Sri Lanka, 2148 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20008, Fax: (1-202) 232-7181 and (1-202) 483-8017, E-mail: slembasy@clark.net
Hon. High-Commissioner, The High Commission of Sri Lanka, 13 Hyde Park Gardens, London W2 2LU, United Kingdom, Fax: (0171) 262-7970, E-mail: lancom@easynet.co.uk
Hon. Ambassador, Permanent Mission and Consulate General of Sri Lanka, 56, Rue De Moillebeau, 5th Floor, 1 209, Geneva 19, Switzerland, Fax: (41-22) 734 9084, E-mail: mission.srilanka@itu.ch
and Sri Lanka’s diplomatic representatives in your country
