UN expert on transitional justice to visit Sri Lanka to review progress

Geneva: United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-recurrence Pablo de Greif, will carry out an official visit to Sri Lanka from 10 to 23 October 2017, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced today.

The special Rapporteur will be in Sri Lanka to examine the progress made in redressing the legacies of massive past violations and abuses, including those that resulted from a conflict that spanned more than 25 years.

In 2015, the Government of Sri Lanka committed itself to designing and implementing a comprehensive transitional justice strategy.

“My visit aims to review the progress made thus far, to identify obstacles and bottlenecks in the implementation of the transitional justice and reform process, and to discuss opportunities with the Government and Sri Lankan society to overcome these,” said de Greiff.

The human rights expert will meet Government officials at central and provincial levels, representatives of the legislature, members of the judiciary, the armed forces, law enforcement officials, religious leaders, political parties, the Human Rights Commission, civil society, victims’ groups, academics and representatives of the international community.

He is scheduled to visit Colombo as well as other locations in the south, center, north and east of the country. This is his third visit to Sri Lanka.

The expert will present his preliminary findings and recommendations at a press conference to be held on Monday 23 October 2017, at 14:00 local time at the UN building, 202 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7.

The final report on the visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in September 2018.