Time for UPR

SRI Lanka’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) today will be the most talked about topic among most circles as most expect the representatives to face tough questions.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Special Envoy for Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe will share the progress the country has made in all aspects of the promotion and protection of human rights before the international human rights forum. Progress made on resettlement, demining, rehabilitation of former cadres, and infrastructure development promoting economic growth will likely be heavily focused on by the Government as well as the successive elections won by the Rajapaksa administration.

Under the UPR process, which scrutinises the human rights record of each member state every four years, Sri Lanka will face tough questions posed by several UN member countries as well as international and local human right groups and other stakeholders.

A troika headed by India, with Benin and Spain as the other members, would review Sri Lanka’s responses and based on the responses will formulate the report of the review and the Council will adopt the review following a vote.

Most countries have raised questions on the progress made in, among others, democratisation of former conflict-affected areas of the Northern and the Eastern Provinces, rehabilitation of child soldiers, investigations into disappearances and missing cases, prevention of torture, language rights of all communities, and the implementation of the five-year National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights.

The international human right organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) has meanwhile urged the UN members to use the UPR process to question Sri Lanka on accountability for right abuses. HRW, ever a critic of the Government, has cautioned member countries in evaluating Sri Lanka’s progress by pointing out that the Government has so far failed to act on the UPR 2008 recommendations. The organisation, which has been deeply critical of Sri Lanka, has insisted that any overtures made by the Government should be viewed with “scepticism,” loading the dice against the island.

The high-powered Sri Lanka delegation led by Minister Samarasinghe and comprising officials from the External Affairs Ministry, Justice Ministry and the Attorney General’s Department, has travelled to Geneva for the UPR. Earlier in the week External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunatilaka Amunugama was upbeat of the Government’s chances insisting that the delegation was well-prepared and confident of its presentation.

It was reported that the Attorney General’s Department plans to conclude the investigations on the assassination of five students in Trincomalee in January 2006 and the execution of 17 French Action against Hunger aid workers in Muttur in August 2006. The two incidents took place during the height of the war in the Eastern Province and, despite international pressure, the Government has thus far seemed comfortable to let it languish in the shadows. With only two months to go before the end of the year, the UPR can be seen as one major reason for the Government to be galvanised into action.

Interestingly Sri Lanka’s UPR also has the highest number of members requesting to make presentations. Ninety-nine countries out of the 193 have put their names on the list and while the Government publicity juggernaut is insistent that 90 of them are positive, the impact of any negative statements cannot be underestimated.

Regardless of the challenges, the Government is likely to put up a strong fight continuing its consistency at international fora; what remains to be seen is the UN members’ reaction.