Shan • 3 days ago Only God knows where the disappeared are. No point asking the govt. anyway the present govt. may not be in power come September. And we only worry about it at the last moment. Sorry.Karunanayaka • 3 days ago Why these persons carrying white man's burden do not make the sane request from Israel and USA?mel • 3 days ago How many women headed households are there in Iraq after the American invasion, eh, Sir? Where is the UNHRC probe into it?mel • 3 days ago Sri Lanka, for goodness sake don't sit their like pooches with their tails tucked fearfully between their legs !! Why do you have to be patronised by idiots from the US who have committed more Human Rights violations than one can think of? Was SL not expected to protect its territory from terrorists? What the bloody heck these UNHRC guys thinking of ? Giving a to do list, indeed ! If SL politicians are going to take all these humiliations lying down, they are not worth their salt. Where is the Opposition Leader in this, if the puppet Sira and pina Ranil are bending their knees to these UN opportunistic goats? If there is an Opposition party why can't they speak up for the country. What a pathetic back boneless lot the Sinhalese politicians are. They only seem to be interested in a personal vendetta against each other. Not likely to have much of a future for squabbling gutless ignoramuses like that.
UNHRC Lists Out Urgent Tasks For Lankan Government
By P.K.Balachandran
Published: 15th April 2015 06:48 PM
Last Updated: 15th April 2015 06:48 PM
COLOMBO: The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has listed out certain urgent tasks for the Sri Lanka government so that the charges of human rights abuses and war crimes are meaningfully addressed in a reasonable period of time.
Pablo de Greiff, UNHRC Special Rapporteur for Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence said in his report on Tuesday, that Lanka should take “immediate action” to clarify the fate of the disappeared; refrain from arbitrary detentions; address land issues; and put an immediate end to continuing forms of harassment, violence and unjustified surveillance of civil society and war victims, in particular women in the Eastern and Northern provinces.
De Greiff said that he is against traversing the time worn route of appointing commissions of inquiry, all of which have failed to deliver so far.
Transitional Justice
Serious consideration needs to be given to establishing “transitional justice” mechanisms that contribute to building lasting institutions and capacities, and which allow for effective implementation, he stressed.
While accepting reparations as a form of transitional justice, he opposed “conditioning reparation benefits on the victims’ willingness to give up their rights to truth and justice.”
Here he is alluding to attempts by the Rajapaksa government to force relatives of missing persons to accept death certificates and a solatium.
Consultation with those affected by the violations is essential because rights cannot simply be foisted but need to be exercised. Citizens cannot be simply presented with ‘solutions’ in the design of which they were given no role, de Greiff said.
Even Handedness
Government initiatives must track violations wherever they occurred and independently of the identity or affiliation of the victims or the perpetrators, he said.
In other words, it would not be fair to put all the blame on the Sinhalese majority and leave the Tamil Tigers out.
Finally, in a country in which there are, as a consequence of the conflict, close to 90,000 women-headed households, it is imperative to design and implement measures that take women’s needs into account, the UN Rapporteur said
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