ruki letter to hrc chair-02august2011-follow up to civil society forum

8/3/2019 Ruki Letter to HRC Chair-02August2011-Follow Up to Civil Society Forum

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LAW & SOCIETY TRUST25 Years: Social change through law

ChairmanR.K.W. Goonesekere

2"d August 2011Hon. Jusuce Priyantha PereraChairmanNational Human Rights Commission of Sri LankaColombo 7Hon. Sir,Follorv up to the interventions made at the Consultative Forum with Civil Society on 11'r'July 20i1I'm 1vriting with regard to the interwentions I made at the above forum, and rccluests by theCommission to submit my coffunents, requests for clarification and suggestions in r.vritit'rg to theCommission.

At the outset, I rvoulcl like to thank you and the HRC and also the UN, for organizing thisforum, and in particular for the long time provided to members of civil sociery to share theircorrunen ts) queslions, suggesdons etc.Despite bad experiences r,vith the HRC in the past, and despite doubts and concerns I had, Iattended this forum in good faith, hoping that this event would be fitst steP to '.r muruallybeneficial and cooperative relationship berr.veen the HRC and civil society, to fulther lhe caurseof promotion and protection of human rights in Sri Lar-rka. It is in line r'vith this commitmenl,that I'm writing this letter, and express readiness to meet and further disctlss matters containec'1in this letter as well as anv other matters telated to the r,vork of the I-IRC and civil socicty.General Comments:

1. Based on past experiences of interactions with previous Commissioners and stafT of theComrrission, I have reasonable doubts whethet this forum r'vas held as a shorvcase event,to dtsplay cooperation and consultation with civil society, as a tool to tegain A gtadefrom the International Coordination Committee and the Asia Pacific Forum or-r NalionalHuman Rights Instifutions, and also to attract funding lrom donors. Holvevcr, I hopethat this is not the case, and that this would be made evident by actions, rather thanrvords, of the HRC in the coming months.

Telephone: +94 ll 2691228+94112684845 3 Kynsey Terrace, Colombo 8, Sri LankaE-Mail: [email protected] / [email protected]: www.lawandsocietytrust.orgTelefax: +94 11 2686843


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The confidence I and several civil sociery actots have in the HltC has declined since2006, based on the inability of the HRC to take decisive action and positions basecl onhuman rights standards in a period in which we r.vitnessed large scale hun-ran rightsviolations and repression of civil society. This confidence can only be regained by actiotrsof the HRC, and not by nice words rnd prornises at consulrrtions rrrd nreerings."fhe last meeting that I had with the Chairman and Con-rmissioners resulied with theCommissioncrs threatenir-rg n-re r,vith contelnPt, dr-re to my asscltion lht.rt theirappointmer-rt was Lrnconstitutional. It is my hope that intetactior-rs rvilh yc-,u and the nelvCommissiorrers will not lcad to sr'rch ir.rcidents'On several occnsiotts, in 2010 and 2011, IiRC officer-s r:cfuscd lo acccpt complaintsregarding sensilive cases, rvhen family members ancl victin-rs triecl lo lodge complaints.Due to inte6,'er-rtions by LST staff rvho accoupat'ried these complainants, zrnd r'vhopornted out the f,,rnctions, power:s ar-rd previous practices of the IIRC, the conplzritltsu,cre subsequendy accepted with reluctar-rce. It is hoped that HRC officcrs s"ill notcontinue tlis practice ir-r the futr-rrc.Several victims ancl their families have complained to us that FIRC inquilies end uP as afolm of harassment and punishrncnt lo them. Con-rplainants tLun uP on clay's tuld tirt-restl-re HRC invites them to come for inquiries, oniy to i'ind that Lelerrant state offici'rls-.ummoned b), th. IIRC do not turn up, *'ithout any trotice, and that HR(, cloesn't seetrkeen to take acLion on tl.rem, airhough t1-re I-IRC is emporverccl do so under alticle 21 ofthe HRC Act. Tl-ris has made it appear to the complainants that tl,e IIRC is l>iased ands),mpathetjc tor.valds allegcd pcrpetr^tors oF i'iolations, al the cost of rrictirns rvho il'r-ccontplrin,t n ts.

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6. 11 the last ferv years, it lppears that the Con-rmission seelrls to opcrate behlnd ';r vcil ofsecl:ecy, abor-rt their positions, intcrventions ar-rd lesults of intcn,erltitltls. Sor-rle specificeramples and rcquests for clari{lcatiotls are uetltioned belolv'

Specific requests and suggestions:1. To irrform civil society groups about any recommendations made by clvil societf irlprcvious colsultations held in 2010 thatrvereimplen-rcnted by t1-re IIRC, bcyorrd holciinrlanother meeting.2. To inform civil sociefi, and qeneral pubLc the position of thc HRC rvith regard toratiflcation of the Optronal Protocol to Convention against Tortr-rte aud CotrveuLiotlagainst Disappeerances. Whether thc HRC feels that tl-re Govcrntnent oI Sri Lanl


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administrative directives and procedures, in lurtherance of, the promotion and protcctionof fundamental rights". (Article 10-c of the HRC Act)Given the several statements by you, Hon. Chairman, that the HRC has no role to playwith regard to the Prever-ition of Terrorism Act pTA), I would like to know rvhethet tl, isis a personal position of the Hon. Chairman or that of the I-IRC? Further, r,vhether theHRC could inform civil society and general public, whether the HRC believes thePrevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) is in line rvith Slt Lanka's itttcrr-rational human rigirtsobligations, and if no, what actions it intends to take and r.vhen, in line with it's fr.rnctionto "malie recommendations to thc Govcrnr-netrt regarding ueasltres rvhich shoulcl bctaken to ensure that national larvs and administralive ptaclices are itl accorclance rviihinternatiotral human rights norms ancl standards" (Article 1tl -d oFthe IIRCAct).To inform civil society and general public, rvhether the FIRC agrccs or clisagrccs rvith thecall of the UN I-Iigh Commissioncr for Flunar-r fugl-rts ancl the Panel of Expcr-ts ol' lhcUN Secreta$/ Gcneral to conclr-rct a intern'.rtional inqui.-1, ir-r regard to allegarions oFviolatior-rs of ir-rternational human rights and huu-raniliLlian larvs, clu-L'ttrg the [lna1 pl.rasc oftlrc s'ar in 2009.To infornr civtl socieq' and general pubLic, rvhether rl-rc HRC ir-rtends to rnvestigateallegatior-rs of violarions of hr,rman rights ancl humanitarian larv durit-rg tl-re last phase ofrhe g-ar ir-r 2009, contained in the vidco documentary scl:eened by channel 4 ancl variclyoIreporrs such as b)'tl-r" Universi$'Teachers for Ilurman Rights -Je[h-ra, Submissions tothe LLRC b)' th. Catholic Diocese oF Nfar-rnar, peoplc of North, inch-rding far-t-rilies oIthose krlled & dtsappeared, Panel of Experts appointed by drc UN SecretarY General,UN Special Rapportuer on Extlajudicial rnd Sun-rmary Execuliot-ts, Departmet-rt of Stateof the United States of Amelica, Intelnational Crisis Gror-rp, Ilr-rmen Rights Watch etc.To inlorm civil societl' and the gene.-al pr:blic, rvhcther the I-IRC o[flcc-,-s cor,tld maliecomplairrants to the FIRC as,ale of the right rnd possibiLiti' tl'ret'h:ir-c lo subnrircornplaints to UN Special Ploceclures. Ilnrtl.rer, s,hcther the FIRC ol-llccrs could assistcon-rplainants intclested in doing so, b1, providir-rg con-iplaiut forus, assisting encl advisinqtheni on completing sllch fornts, or leferling lhem lo cirtil socicb,groLrPS that itre rvrllirtgto provide such assistance and adr.ice.In vicrv of the powers vested ir-r the IIRC to "utrdertalie l:esearch ....ancl clissenrin'.rtc etrrldistribute results of such LeseaLch" (Alttclc 11 - l) lrrhcthe r tt cart proc1,;ce nrlcldisseminate dctarled rcports on critical topics such as totlure, mcdia fi'ccclorn,disappcarar-rces, extrajudicial kiilings etc., ancl thcrebl, also ftr1fi1l it's fr-rnctjolt "lopr:omote awaleness and provide education in reladon to hr-rman rights". (Alticle 10 f ofthe I-II{C Act). If the I-IRC is rvrl[ng to do this, r.vhen cor:ld this be clonc? Given thebload porvers o[ the Commissiolr to receir.e and obtain ir-rlormatiorr, r,isit pleccs ,t[detention, investigate r,.iolations that happen and irnr-nincnt viol:rdotrs, tl.re ur-rtl-rber: ofconrplaints it leccives to the hced offlcc ancl branches, the I-lliC tPPCars to lte rvLrllecluiltpcd for this task alid it is an aree a]so that cor-rlcl lead to meanirrgfr.rl cooltct-atiottrvith civil socict)/.Wfiether the IIRC could sr-rbrnit to t1-rc ParLiament, reports ctt't issr:es r-clatcd lo meclittlrceclom, torture, clisrpperlrnce.., ert-rrijutlicial executions etc.) basccl ot-t it's pos'el to"rvhenever it conside.-s it neccssarl, to clo so, submit pcrioclic or special rcPorts t.)

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Padiament in respect of any particular matter or matters refetred to it, and the actiontaken in respct thereoP' (Article 30 of HRC Act). If yes, when could the IIRC do this?

10. Whether the HRC can rnnke available to civil society and general public, the annualreports it submits to Parliament, in line with Article 30 of the IIRC Act?

Based on arricle 3 of the HRC Act, my understanding is that persons having knowledgc ancipractical experience in matters relaring to IIumarr Rights shall constitute thc Commission, attclthus, I'm hopeful that civil society, the governmcnt and Sri Lankan citizens in gener:;ri cen bcnefitfrom opurions and posirions based or-r human rights strndalds, coming from thc IIRC on issr-rcssuch as abor e.Beyond the meeting on L1'r'July, I wor-rld also lil

ruki letter to hrc chair-02august2011-follow up to civil society forum

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