Decision on COVID burial shows way forward in Geneva: NPC

The National Peace Council (NPC), in a statement, said the Government’s decision to allow the burial of COVID dead showed the way forward in Geneva, where UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions are ongoing.

Following is the full statement.

The Government’s decision to permit the burial of COVID-19 victims was long overdue. For 10 months, this policy caused needless grief to those whose religious convictions demanded the burial of the departed. The decision to enforce cremation of COVID victims on health grounds had no basis in science, which was pointed out by the Health Ministry’s expert committee and the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka. The National Peace Council appreciates the political courage of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who made the early announcement that COVID burial was going to be permitted. Our hope is that this decision will also herald a shift in government policy to a more inclusive one that is fair by all sections of the country’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multilingual and multicultural polity.

Even though 10 months late, the Government’s decision to permit the burial of COVID victims in the face of strong internal opposition needs to be commended. We anticipate it will have a positive bearing on the discussions in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where the issue of enforced COVID cremation was a matter of censure. 

This decision will also contribute to making Muslims citizens of Sri Lanka feel that the Government has finally responded to their deeply felt sentiments. Likewise, the National Peace Council calls on the Government to be responsive to the Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka, their political aspirations, and in particular, whose grievances continue to remain unaddressed 11 years after the end of the war. We note that the grievances of the ethnic and religious minorities in Sri Lanka long predate the three-decade-long war and continue to this day.

At the ongoing UNHRC session in Geneva, there is the likelihood of a resolution on Sri Lanka and its post-war reconciliation process being presented by a group of likeminded countries. The indications are that the resolution will be focusing on war-time violations of human rights and current trends that indicate the weakening of institutional checks and balances. NPC urges the Government to agree to recommendations that advance the rights and privileges of Sri Lankan citizens, strengthen principles of good governance, and are in keeping with the parameters of Sri Lankan sovereignty. 

Instead of mobilising countries in the UNHRC with questionable human rights track records to reject the resolution, we urge the acceptance of those sections of the resolution that advance the quality of life of the Sri Lankan people and their human rights and which therefore could be accepted by the Government.