SL’s human rights record not improving

With the 55th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) scheduled to commence next week in Geneva, Switzerland, the searchlight will once again be on Sri Lanka over its failure to address human rights violations as well as over newly posed threats to individual freedom by way of the Online Safety Act.

The newly launched Police operation to crackdown on drug dealers which has resulted in a number of extrajudicial killings as well as arbitrary arrests and detentions too is likely to be brought up during the sessions.

We can expect the Sri Lanka Government representatives in Geneva to come with their statements to counter such allegations but in reality, the Government needs to do a great deal more to protect individual rights of citizens and also address the long-standing issue of missing persons in consultation with family members of those affected.

This week marks seven years since the Association for Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances (ARED) in the Northern and Eastern Provinces began their continuous protest seeking answers to the whereabouts of their loved ones. The Government has set up the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) which has done substantial work to find out what happened to those who went missing during the last stages of the war mainly in 2009 but a lot more remains to be done.

In January, Parliament passed the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation Act, among the objectives of which is for its members to make recommendations to the Government on measures to be taken to resolve matters causing tensions and conflicts within and among the different communities. Without a credible process in place to address the issue of missing persons in the north and east, national unity and reconciliation will be impossible, at least for another generation.

Since independence, two insurrections in the south and the prolonged separatist war in the North and East has led to thousands of people being reported as missing. The people who disappeared during the second JVP-led uprising in the 1988/90 period are mostly forgotten except by family members. For those in the north and east, the feelings are still raw, and relatives of the missing men and women continue to grieve over them.

For any Government that comes to power, finding answers to the grievances of these people will not be easy but there is an obligation on the State to ensure that credible processes endured by relatives of missing persons are set up so that there can be closure for them. The process must also ensure adequate compensation for the families of missing persons.

Other than the issue of enforced disappearances, the country will come in for criticism over several other repressive laws in the statute books of Sri Lanka including the recently enacted OLS Act as well as sections 365 and 365A of the Penal Code that criminalise same sex relations. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act enacted in 2007 has been widely abused by State authorities and used as a tool to clamp down on freedom of expression and individual freedom.

In progressive countries, archaic, repressive laws get repealed and replaced only with new laws that first and foremost protect the rights of its citizens. In Sri Lanka, politicians think of their personal interests and push through repressive legislation while the Police abuse them in the most disgraceful manner.

The ongoing ‘yukthiya’ police operation that is been showcased as one that will put an end to the illicit drug trade in the country is being used to harass, intimidate, arrest and detain people, some of who are either mere bystanders or happen to live in certain localities where drug use and sale is rampant.

Yes, there is a need to stop the proliferation of illicit drugs into the country, but all such operations must be done within the parameters of the law. Using such operations only for certain politicians and police high ups to boost their personal images will do little to either stop the drug problem or help the country improve its image in the human rights field.