National HR Action Plan :
Stresses commitment to protect human rights of all Lankans
By Manjula FERNANDO
Plantation Industries Minister and President’s Special Envoy on Human
Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe expressed his views to the Sunday Observer
on the possibility of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission
(LLRC) report being debated at the 19th UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)
sessions in Geneva and the implementation of the National Action Plan on
the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
Referring to the HR Action Plan, he said, “I must tell you frankly
that we did not do this exercise to satisfy the international community.
We did it because it was the right thing to do, in respect of committing
ourselves to progressing further in terms of promotion and protection of
human rights of all Sri Lankans, especially in the context of the
post-conflict phase.”
About his expectations at the UNHRC, the Minister said, “I always
expect the worst because there are some who don’t look at the progress.
They pursue other parochial agenda. Some of them are driven by political
agendas. However much we do in terms of achieving progress in the HR
front, that would be meaningless to them. Those people would never
acknowledge the genuine attempts made by the Government of Sri Lanka
towards comprehensive reconciliation. But these are increasingly
becoming less and less of a force”.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
Q: The Government of Sri Lanka has decided to implement the
National Human Rights Action Plan, already approved by the Cabinet of
Ministers. This was a voluntary pledge given at the Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) meeting at the UNHRC in 2008. What are the key proposals in
this document?
A: The UPR is a mechanism that was introduced at the UNHRC way
back in 2008 to review countries by their peers who are part and parcel
of the Human Rights Council mechanism and the UN mechanism. The
objective was to provide an opportunity to engage in a constructive
dialogue with the countries being reviewed and this takes place every
four years.
Sri Lanka’s first cycle commenced in 2008 and the next review is
scheduled to take place in October. In 2008, when we participated in the
Sri Lanka UPR, with a delegation headed by me, we prepared a
comprehensive report outlining what we have achieved, in terms of
promotion and protection of Human Rights and what our challenges would
be in the future; especially in the context of the (then) ongoing
Humanitarian Operation, the threat of terrorism at that time and about
being prepared for the post-conflict phase where we would have to deal
with new challenges.
Our report spearheaded by the Human Rights Ministry and compiled by
the participation of all other relevant ministries and State agencies at
the time was actually a very comprehensive one.
I presented this report on behalf of Sri Lanka at the plenary
sessions at the UNHRC. Subsequently, there was an opportunity for
delegations to comment on our report, and at the same time to make
recommendations on what needs to be done in terms of progressing even
further.
The Sri Lankan UPR was in the backdrop of the ongoing conflict. There
was quite a lot of interest shown, by not just the State delegations
present, but also Non-Governmental Organisations. All the observations
made were then considered by the Sri Lankan delegation. Those
delegations that were usually critical of Sri Lanka on human rights
aspects made statements to the effect that they were happy with the
comprehensive report that we presented.
Voluntary pledges
Quite apart from the voluntary pledges that we made, which included
the preparation of the National Action Plan on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights, the suggestions of the other delegations
were also taken on board, because they too were in line with our
thinking.
If you look at the National Action Plan, it has eight thematic areas
including civil and political rights; social, economic and cultural
rights; right of abstinence from torture; and women and children’s
rights. We have come out with a time-bound action plan which would
enable us to progress even further. The overall objective is to further
enhance our commitment towards the protection of Human Rights of all Sri
Lankans.
Q: Are there any key recommendations that you think would
particularly be of interest to or be hailed by the international
community?
A: I must tell you frankly that we did not do this exercise to
satisfy the international community. We did it because it was the right
thing to do, in respect of committing ourselves to progressing further
for the promotion and protection of HR of all Sri Lankans, especially in
the context of the post-conflict phase. Our objective was not to come
out with a document which would be appealing to the international
community. The objective was to very clearly show our commitment on the
part of the Sri Lankan Government to take certain steps to ensure that
our objectives are achieved on behalf of all Sri Lankans. Thus, we had
to also consider what was practical and what was not. It was a five-year
action plan.
Not everything can be achieved in a five-year span. We were very
sincere in what we did. If we set out to purely satisfy critics of Sri
Lanka, our job would have been a propaganda exercise. This was an effort
for Sri Lanka by Sri Lankans. Since this was not a propaganda exercise,
some may not be entirely happy with our report. We have shown a very
sincere commitment on further enhancing the situation. It is a pragmatic
approach.
When I go to Geneva in October, I intend to talk about how this will
be put into action. In another four years, whoever is going to do the
job on behalf of Sri Lanka at the UPR will have to show what they have
actually done in terms of reaching these milestones. We have to consider
this action plan in that context. This is not a document that is
intended to sit on a shelf and gather dust. After the action plan is
completed, we have to look into the remaining challenges and begin
addressing them one by one.
Plan implementation
Q: When will you be starting the implementation of the
National Action Plan? What agencies will be directly involved?
A: A host of things have to be done immediately. I have
received agreement from the Cabinet of Ministers for an
Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee. This will be chaired by me as
the Human Rights Special Envoy of the President. That will be the apex
body coordinating and monitoring the implementation process.
Different Government ministries and agencies will be involved in this
process. The Ministry of Defence, for instance, will have a number of
areas to look after. They will have to start implementing those areas.
The Justice Ministry, Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs,
the Police, the Prison’s Department and the Foreign Employment Ministry
which has a key role in relation to migrant workers, are some of them.
There are many ministries and State agencies who are tied to this as
per their individual mandates. The committee that I will be chairing
will regularly hold meetings and engage with those State institutions
and review the progress.
We embarked on this at the outset in a very systematic manner and no
institution would be able to back out now.
The whole process involved a comprehensive consultative phase. Until
the document came out, all the stakeholders were involved at the
sub-committee level and their concerns were accommodated. The priorities
were re-arranged in line with their inputs.
Finally I presented the document to the Cabinet of Ministers to
arrive at a consolidated position. It was not necessary for me to put it
to the Cabinet. That showed the commitment of the Government.
Q: In the course of implementing this Action Plan, do you
require changes to the existing laws?
A: There are certain legislative steps that will have to be
taken. The relevant ministries will have to start taking legislative
steps to fall in line with the Action Plan.
This is not going to be implemented by the committee that I head. The
implementation will have to be done by different government ministries
and agencies.
I will make sure that these ministries are coordinated
comprehensively and monitored regularly to ensure that these milestones
are achieved. There is no going back now.
Q: Could you elaborate on the role of this Inter-Ministerial
Committee that will coordinate the implementation of the Action Plan?
A: I cannot give you all the details. I will chair the
Committee. I would not think that anyone will question my commitment. It
will also be a strategy to ensure that the diversity we have in our
country, the multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-lingual and
multicultural community that is Sri Lanka would be protected and
nurtured further; to feel that they are not being trampled upon and that
we are one nation and one people.
Realistic goals
Q: Do you think the recommendations in this report are
realistic goals for a country trying to re-emerge from a bitter 30-year
conflict?
A: Well, that is why we sought the approval of the entire
Cabinet for the action plan. We did not set out to satisfy the
international community. We wanted to do this because we felt that this
would be a useful instrument to move towards winning the peace. We have
won the war against terrorism and got over the instability.
Q: What impact will this have on the ongoing reconciliation
process?
A: It will have a huge impact. That is what winning the peace
is all about. We do not want to go back to the period of destabilisation
that affected the economy and disunited the people of our country, which
affected the image of the country and our democracy and rule of law. We
have finished that era thanks to the leadership of President Mahinda
Rajapaksa.
Q: The next UN Human Rights Council Sessions will begin in
March. Will the Human Rights allegations start to haunt us once again in
Geneva?
A: I always expect the worst because there are some who don’t
look at the progress. They pursue other parochial agenda. Some of them
are driven by political agendas.
However much we do in terms of achieving progress in the HR front,
that would be meaningless to them. Those people would never acknowledge
the genuine attempts made by the Government of Sri Lanka towards
comprehensive reconciliation. But these are increasingly becoming less
and less of a force.
Once we implement the action plan, along with the other efforts
taking place under the direction of President Rajapaksa to achieve
peace, I don’t see any major challenges that we would have to face.
Nothing can go wrong as long as we show genuine progress at the ground
level.
But I always prepare myself before Geneva and this time as well I
have started this process. We have already initiated interaction with
foreign governments on issues that may come up. I am confident that the
positive developments that have taken place in Sri Lanka will start to
pay dividends.
But I am not taking anything for granted. We are working very hard to
improve the ground situation.
Q: Do you think there is a chance to debate the LLRC report at
the upcoming 19th sessions of the UNHRC?
A: Well, it is not on the agenda, but there will be comments
from those who take an interest on Sri Lanka. We will be open for
interaction and to brief them on the strategy of the Government.
LTTE propaganda
Q: Propaganda activities of LTTE fronts targeting Sri Lanka
have become a recurrent phenomena at international fora. These became
highly organised and calculated after the military defeat of the LTTE.
Often these are picked up by some members of the international community
to criticise Sri Lanka?
A: I think we are now in a much stronger position than we were
in September, because most of the criticism then was based on the LLRC
report not being made public and that this whole domestic process being
eyewash. I think we have answered those critics today by presenting the
full report in Parliament and placing it out in public domain.
We could have suppressed it citing various reasons. It has happened
in some other countries. But on the contrary, within a very short
period, the President decided that the full report should be tabled in
Parliament. This was a very comprehensive report, much to the
dissatisfaction of those who were waiting to target Sri Lanka. The
Government has already briefed the people on the next step. The LLRC
process is a good example for a lot of others.
Q: Despite the improvements in the Human Rights front,
abductions still take place in the country. The most recent case was the
disappearance of Lalith and Kugan in Jaffna. Do you think this is one of
the biggest challenges the country has to overcome in the post-conflict
phase?
A: The present situation is not even remotely comparable to
what took place earlier. The situation has improved dramatically. But in
any Democracy, there is an element of criminality and this should not be
condoned. Societies in the West, who call themselves role models of
democracy, are constantly battling with this kind of situation. It is
incumbent on the Government to investigate the incidents, apprehend the
culprits and deal with them according to the law.
Q: Does the HR Action Plan address these issues as well?
A: Yes. The action plan proposes means to deal severely with
such incidents. In addition, if some of the recommendations in the LLRC
are implemented, the country will be in a much better position. All this
is done with a clear objective of achieving comprehensive
reconciliation. But I must say, with all this in place, the ‘criminality
element’ could never be wiped out 100 percent from the country. That is
not a realistic goal.
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