Sweeping amendments proposed for HRC Act

by Manjula Fernando

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRC) has proposed sweeping amendments to its existing Act, to strengthen its role as an independent Human Rights watchdog.

The proposals aim at giving the institution extra legislative powers to seek judicial intervention when someone defaults on its recommendations.

It will also have powers to warrant officials to testify.

The Commission can only issue summons on officials at present.

Human Rights Commissioner Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa said over 10 sub-sections of the Act will be either amended or replaced if these proposals are given the green light by Parliament.

Among the proposals are provisions to facilitate the obtaining of Court Orders to compel officials to implement the HRC recommendations that spell out redress for victims.

At present, the HRC can only request State officials to carry out their recommendations to give redress to aggrieved parties.

If the proposals are passed, the Commission can, in future, submit a certificate to the Court of Appeal or provisional High Court as appropriate, seeking an order to implement the HRC recommendation.

Once a Court order is issued, the officials can be held for Contempt of Court if they fail to respond.

The Commission will also be empowered to initiate fact finding missions and national inquiries covering the entire country.

It will broaden the scope of the institution that has been made one of the implementing bodies of the Universal Periodic Review Recommendations and Human Rights National Action Plan.

Further, the HRC calls on powers to issue interim orders on external inquiries that clash with their investigations and clear the way for more visits by HRC officials to detention centres to facilitate quarterly reports, outlining ways to improve the welfare of the detainees. Dr. Mahanamahewa said the proposals were the result of over one year of deliberations among all stakeholders. “These are not our own proposals.

Even the law enforcement officers contributed in fine-tuning these proposed amendments,” he said.

The HRC has 10 regional branches covering the entire country, including in Jaffna and Vavuniya. A new mobile branch was opened in Puttalam recently while six new branches are to be opened next year.