Author: TELO Admin

The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) responded to the annual report of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and rejected the proposal to advance accountability options at the international level in relation to Sri Lanka.

On Monday, the Advance Edited Version of the comments made by the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva on the OHCHR report was released.

In its observations, the GoSL said it was unfortunate that the OHCHR has decided to omit the majority of the information provided by the GoSL in writing as well as at the meeting between GoSL officials and the OHCHR ahead of the preparation of the report.

“The Office however appears to have taken a wealth of misinformation to produce a report that puts its credibility and integrity at risk. Moreover, the OHCHR reports have been highly selective, preconceived, politicized and prejudicial in levelling allegations against the GoSL in terms of the six selected ‘trends’, calling them as ‘early warning indicators that require the Human Right Council’s urgent attention,” the report by Sri Lanka said.

It defended the decision taken by Sri Lanka to appoint former military officials to the posts in the government and commented on the crimes committed by the LTTE, the PTA, communal violence in the aftermath of the Easter attacks, covid-19 cremation issue as well as the imprisonment of lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah.

Sri Lanka further said it regretted that that OHCHR has submitted itself to the preconceived, politicized and prejudicial agenda which certain elements have relentlessly pursued to trigger such disproportionate and unwarranted measures against Sri Lanka, and cautions that any options at the international level would tantamount to an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State in contravention of the UN Charter.

“The GoSL reminds that calling for targeted sanctions and travel bans against individuals, in the absence of credible findings by a competent court/body on violations committed them, itself constitutes nothing less than a political agenda against a sovereign nation, aimed at destabilizing and a violation of their rights and contravention of the principles of natural justice.

“The 20th amendment to the Constitution has not taken away the institutional checks and balances including the judicial checks that were in existence under the 19th amendment to the Constitution.

“It is maintained that the Government is able, willing and committed to pursuing meaningful mechanisms of accountability and reconciliation, in accordance with its constitutional framework.

“It is regretted that references to investigations targeted sanctions, assets freezes and travel bans against state officials and other actors, based on ‘credibly alleged’ is unfounded, unsubstantiated and totally misconceived.

“It is important to point out that the tone and substance of the report, going far beyond the legitimate scope of OHCHR, seek to establish a dangerous precedent which has grave repercussions for all sovereign States.

“The call for asset freezes, travel bans and the reference to the ICC and the exercise of universal jurisdiction by individual States, without a semblance of evidence in support, particularly in relation to a country like Sri Lanka which has consistently being compliant and engaged with the United Nation and its mechanisms, points to a distinct and eminent danger which the international community as a whole need to take note of.

“As a responsible member of the United Nations, Sri Lanka has remained open and committed to constructively engage with the UN system including the Human Rights Council on national as well as global matters of importance.

“Sri Lanka’s commitment in this regard has been amply demonstrated by, among others, its accession and implementation of all 9 core human rights conventions, the unprecedented number of special procedure mandate holders of the HRC and treaty bodies that it has received (10) particularly in recent years, and the constructive engagement that Sri Lanka has had with UN treaty bodies.

“We look forward to continuing our engagement with the OHCHR, UN Human Rights mechanisms and procedures, and to continue to work in close cooperation with the international community through capacity building and technical assistance in mutually agreed areas, in keeping with domestic priorities and policies.”

Provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) are to be revisited, the Government informed the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in a comprehensive response to a report by OHCHR.

The response by Sri Lanka to the damning report has now been published by the UN Human Rights Council following objections raised by Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka had written to the UN Human Rights Council demanding that the full response be published online.

Accordingly, in the response published by the UN, the government noted that the Counter Terrorism Bill was not pursued with, and withdrawn, having had due regard to the views expressed by Parliamentarians including the Sectoral Oversight Committee on International Relations of the Parliament, religious leaders, trade unions, student organizations, civil society groups and public organizations that such legislation was unwarranted at this point of time.

The government, however, said it is intent on revisiting the provisions of the PTA having due regard to the progress made in the area of development and reconciliation. In that process the government said it will draw in aid international best practices adopted by other jurisdictions and the recommendations that may be made by the CoI appointed with regard to the Easter Sunday attacks.

“It may also be noted that the Attorney General is also reviewing cases pending before the High Courts with a view to ensure the expeditious disposal of cases involving LTTE cadres in order to bring a meaningful end to the said cases,” the government said in its response.

Overall, Sri Lanka says the report by OHCHR is based on incorrect and/or unsubstantiated and extraneous sources/material, and contravenes the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity, as stipulated in the GA resolution 60/251 that created the UN Human Rights Council.

The Government rejected the High Commissioner’s proposal “to advance accountability options at the international level”, including, in particular, her proposal to take steps towards referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court.

Sri Lanka regrets that that OHCHR has submitted itself to the preconceived, politicized and prejudicial agenda which certain elements have relentlessly pursued to trigger such disproportionate and unwarranted measures against Sri Lanka, and cautions that any options at the international level would tantamount to an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State in contravention of the UN Charter.

The government reminded OHCHR that calling for targeted sanctions and travel bans against individuals, in the absence of credible findings by a competent court/body on violations committed them, itself constitutes nothing less than a political agenda against a sovereign nation, aimed at destabilizing and a violation of their rights and contravention of the principles of natural justice.

Similarly, the government condemned the recommendation in the report to the UN to keep Sri Lanka’s peacekeeping operations under review.

A leading Muslim organisation in Sri Lanka will this week send an official letter of concern to the global Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the World Muslim Congress, seeking their intervention to urge the Sri Lankan government to allocate a decent land for the burial of Muslim COVID-19 victims.

The Daily Mirror learns that the Sri Lanka Islamic Centre, which is a member of the World Muslim Congress will raise serious concerns with the global bodies and will also send a letter to the World Muslim Congress office in Geneva urging for immediate intervention after the government announced that burials of the COVID-19 dead would take place on the Iranaithivu Island, in the Gulf of Mannar.

Senior Muslim officials said they were disappointed at the government’s decision to allocate the Iranaithivu Isle for the burials and instead urged the government to find a suitable land elsewhere in the country.

The Daily Mirror learns that two lands have been proposed by the Muslim community – the Kupiyawatta burial grounds in Colombo and a five acre land in Mannar, in the north which belongs to a local mosque in the area, where ground water level reports have been carried out by the Geologists from the Department of Geology from the University of Peradeniya.

When questioned, a senior geologist from the Geology Department of the Peradeniya University confirmed that ground water level reports had been carried out on both the lands and the proposed land in Mannar was found to have low water levels.

Senior Muslim officials said the proposed land in Mannar was ready to undertake burials of the COVID19 dead immediately and were concerned why these requests were ignored by the health authorities who were notified.

Meanwhile Minister of Water Supply, Vasudeva Nanayakkara told Daily Mirror that according to his knowledge, he was not aware of any feasibility report carried out on the Iranaithivu Island to bury COVID-19 dead but said he had proposed two more lands, one in the North and another in the East which had low water levels and was suitable to bury the COVID19 dead. He said he had handed over these recommendations to the expert committee for them to decide.

The Indian Visa Service (IVS) Application Centre at No.145 Temple Road, Jaffna, shut on 13th March 2020 due to COVID-19, has resumed its operations from yesterday. It will function every Wednesday from 0900 hrs to 1300 hrs.

It will accept all categories of visa applications except tourism, which remains suspended due to COVID-19. Applicants have the option of receiving their serviced passports by courier by paying the prescribed fee at the IVS Application Centre or they can collect the serviced passport only when the IVS Application Centre opens on Wednesdays or from the Consulate directly from 1700 to 1730 hrs. Applicants can submit visa applications directly at the Consulate from 0900-1200 hrs on other days in the case of emergencies. Please visit the “visa” menu at the Consulate’s website “cgijaffna.gov.in” for information on online visa application, documentation required for various categories of visas and other requirements.