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Statement
Civil Society urges President:
Stand by international commitments
We the undersigned activists and organisations condemn President
Maithripala Sirisena's recent statements (BBC Sinhala Service, 21 Jan.
2015, Frontline, 14 Jan, 2015) wherein he appears to be indicating a
withdrawal from the obligations the government had committed to in the
consensus resolution passed at the 30th Session of the UN Human Rights
Council (UNHRC) in October 2015. It is worth recalling that the
government as a co-sponsor of this resolution, was in a position to
negotiate the exact terms of the resolution. Owing to the government's
positions taken at these negotiations, the resolution in itselfwas a
compromise, much to the disappointment of many victims and activists.
The government now appears to be backtracking from even these
compromised commitments. The President in these interviews categorically
stated that foreign judges and experts would not be part of the process.
In his interview to BBC Sinhala Service he also went on to express
his full confidence in the existing judicial system and in Sri Lanka's
investigative authorities. In that interview he added that if there was
any international support necessary for Sri Lanka that it was only for
economic development. On 26 January 2015, few days after the Presidents
interview to the BBC, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in an
interview to Channel 4 appeared to be engaging in damage control when he
stated that that the government will abide by commitments given in
Geneva. These contradictions between the President and the Prime
Minister are however not new and have been a constant feature of the
government's public communications about their commitments under the
resolution ever since the resolution was passed.
Domestic process
It is widely acknowledged that the victim communities in Sri Lanka
consider a purely domestic process to be untrustworthy. The crimes that
were committed and that continue to be committed are of a systemic
nature and the security apparatus that isresponsible for most of these
crimes and the attendant judicial, legal infrastructure continue to
remain the same. Lack of legal and judicial response in the face of
continuing violations including torture, arbitrary detention, unlawful
arrest and sexual violence does not inspire confidence in the local
judiciary. Further, a backlog of thousands of cases remain unaddressed,
with very few arrests and convictions in response.Hence international
participation in transitional justice processes including criminal
prosecutions become an important element to win the trust and confidence
of the victim communities. It is important to understand that the issue
with regard to the need for international participation is one relating
to willingness and not just of capacity. The agreement in October 2015
to include foreign judges and prosecutors showed signs on the part of
the new government of a willingness to act on accountability issues. The
withdrawal from such obligations today leads us to questioning the
seriousness of the Government's willingness.
The President's comments come at a time when his government claims to
have embarked on a process of consultations on the design of
transitional justice mechanisms outlined in the UNHRC resolution. These
comments severely compromise that process and cast doubt on the
intentions of the entire endeavour. There are also reports that the
government has already started drafting the necessary legal frameworks
to put in place these mechanisms, which then raise the question as to
whether the consultations will be merely tokenistic.
Of concern was also that President Sirisena in the BBC Sinhala
Service interview had chosen to deny reports that violations continue to
occur even after he took over as President in January 2015. Of
particular concern was his accusation, quite similar to that of his
predecessor, that those who allege such things have an LTTE connection.
Anguish
We also recall that on 15 January 2015 in his remarks in Jaffna at
the 'National Pongal Day' Prime Minister RanilWickremesinghe claimed
that most of those who have disappeared are now dead. This callous
remark by the Prime Minister, which has caused much anguish to victim
families, isrepresentative of the government's lackadaisical attitude
towards the issue of enforced disappearances. The Prime Minister
reiterated this point inhis Channel 4 interview. If the Prime Minister
possesses such information on the disappeared the questions arises as to
why he hasn't disclosed them through proper channels.
That the government has chosen to continue with the flawed Paranagama
Commission, an institution that the UN High Commissioner had advised
abandoning, is even further evidence of the Government's lack of
willingness to deal with the issue of disappearance in a sincere manner.
No political prisoners
Similarly on 21 January 2016 the Prime Minister speaking at the World
Economic Forum noted that according to his government that there were no
political prisoners in Sri Lanka. This comes on top of the government's
failure on its own promises and time tables with regard to the release
of political prisoners.
We fear that all of the above points to Sri Lanka's co-sponsoring of
the UNHRC resolution in October 2015 being merely an act of foreign
policy aimed at boosting its international image and legitimacy.
Therefore, we demand that the government issue a policy statement
clarifying its position on the UNHRC resolution, in particular its
stance with regard to the commitment to institute a hybrid process. We
feel that it is time that all stakeholders, both within the country and
in the international community, hold the government accountable to its
Geneva commitments.
Signatories:
144 Civil Society members and organizations |
