UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Absence of a functioning human rights commission in Sri Lanka 

SRI LANKA: Political undermining of the Human Rights Commission; absence of leadership within the Human Rights Commission; government control; failure to implement the 17th Amendment
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) once again writes to reaffirm its concern regarding the future of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC). On 4 April 2006, we reported that the terms of the office of the HRC members had expired on April 3, and that as a result of this, there would be no legally empowered body to perform the task of protecting and promoting human rights in the country, and that there would be no independent government body to monitor government agencies in any form. Despite this disturbing development for human rights in Sri Lanka, and with close to a month having now passed, no new commissioners have yet to be appointed and therefore there is currently no human rights monitoring mechanism in the country, which is particularly worrying given the recent escalation of violence.

The HRC became defunct with the expiry of the terms of office of the commissioners in early April. Dr. Radhika Coormaraswamy and other commissioners are now out of office. The absence of the Constitutional Council to make the new appointments for the Commission will ensure that it remains incapable of functioning. It is not likely that the Constitutional Council will be appointed soon, as the government stands opposed to such appointments. The excuse used is that the name of a member representing the minority parties has not been agreed upon.  However, overwhelming legal opinion has been that this is not an insurmountable impediment for the appointment of the other members. The Prime Minister and the opposition leader are reported to have submitted five names some months ago. The four other members are ex-officio members in terms of the offices they hold. Thus, if the five nominated members are appointed then there will be nine members out of the ten member council and the quorum required, according to the Constitution, is only six. Thus, if the government were not actively obstructing the appointment of this commission it would be functioning by now. The members to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka could then have been appointed and there would have been at least the presence of the HRC to monitor the human rights issues arising out of the current escalation of violence.

It is not only the Human Rights Commission that is absent but also a constitutionally appointed National Police Commission (NPC). The disciplinary control of the police is a function of the NPC. The investigation of various complaints, which are numerous even in normal times, and which are likely to increase enormously with the escalation of the conflict, need to be investigated in a credible manner if the violence is to be controlled.  However, in the absence of the NPC the issue of human rights will suffer a great deal.  Even by the admission of high ranking police officers, the discipline within the police force is very low.

The crucial issue is the presence of human rights monitors to scrutinise the escalating violence in the country. This means the immediate appointment of the Human Rights Commission and others, the failure of which will contribute to the further enhancement of the violence. The present situation also calls for the international monitoring of human rights as it was done during the last year in Nepal. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Nepal (OHCHR-NEPAL) contributed to the lessening of violence and to increasing the capacity of the ordinary folk, not only to live their lives but also to participate effectively against all extreme elements that use violence as their tool.

In a situation where parties to the conflict only use the violence of one party as the excuse for further violence on their part, it would have an extremely negative effect if the issue of human rights monitoring is not resolved urgently.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

We ask that you please write to the President of Sri Lanka, the UN Secretary General and the Secretary for Asian Pacific Forum seeking their intervention in effective action being taken to ensure the appointment of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka and other Constitutional bodies capable of intervening to maintain law and order.

 

 

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