LAW & SOCIETY TRUST

25 Years: Social change through law

Chairman

R.K.W. Goonesekere

2"d August 2011

Hon. Jusuce Priyantha Perera Chairman National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka

Colombo

Hon. Sir, Follorv up to the interventions made at the Consultative Forum with Civil Society on July 20i1
11'r'

I'm 1vriting with regard to the interwentions

Commission.

made at the above forum, and rccluests by the for clarification and suggestions in r.vritit'rg to the Commission to submit my coffunents, requests

At the outset, I

rvoulcl like to thank you and the HRC and also the UN, for organizing this forum, and in particular for the long time provided to members of civil sociery to share their
corrunen ts) queslions, suggesdons etc.

Despite bad experiences r,vith the HRC in the past, and despite doubts and concerns I had, I attended this forum in good faith, hoping that this event would be fitst steP to '.r murually beneficial and cooperative relationship berr.veen the HRC and civil society, to fulther lhe caurse of promotion and protection of human rights in Sri Lar-rka. It is in line r'vith this commitmenl, that I'm writing this letter, and express readiness to meet and further disctlss matters containec'1 in this letter as well as anv other matters telated to the r,vork of the I-IRC and civil socicty. General Comments:

1.

Based on past experiences

of interactions with previous Commissioners and

stafT

of the

Comrrission, I have reasonable doubts whethet this forum r'vas held as a shorvcase event, to dtsplay cooperation and consultation with civil society, as a tool to tegain A gtade from the International Coordination Committee and the Asia Pacific Forum or-r Nalional Human Rights Instifutions, and also to attract funding lrom donors. Holvevcr, I hope that this is not the case, and that this would be made evident by actions, rather than
rvords, of the HRC in the coming months.

Telephone: +94 ll 2691228 +94112684845

3 Kynsey Terrace, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka

Telefax: +94 11 2686843

E-Mail: 1st@eureka.lk / lstadmin@sltnet.lk

Website: www.lawandsocietytrust.org

2.

J,

1.

The confidence I and several civil sociery actots have in the HltC has declined since 2006, based on the inability of the HRC to take decisive action and positions basecl on human rights standards in a period in which we r.vitnessed large scale hun-ran rights violations and repression of civil society. This confidence can only be regained by actiotrs of the HRC, and not by nice words rnd prornises at consulrrtions rrrd nreerings. "fhe last meeting that I had with the Chairman and Con-rmissioners resulied with the Commissioncrs threatenir-rg n-re r,vith contelnPt, dr-re to my asscltion lht.rt their appointmer-rt was Lrnconstitutional. It is my hope that intetactior-rs rvilh yc-,u and the nelv Commissiorrers will not lcad to sr'rch ir.rcidents' On several occnsiotts, in 2010 and 2011, IiRC officer-s r:cfuscd lo acccpt complaints
regarding sensilive cases, rvhen family members ancl victin-rs triecl lo lodge complaints. Due to inte6,'er-rtions by LST staff rvho accoupat'ried these complainants, zrnd r'vho pornted out the f,,rnctions, power:s ar-rd previous practices of the IIRC, the conplzritlts u,cre subsequendy accepted with reluctar-rce. It is hoped that HRC officcrs s"ill not continue

tlis practice ir-r the futr-rrc.

J.

Several victims ancl their families have complained to us that FIRC inquilies end uP as a folm of harassment and punishrncnt lo them. Con-rplainants tLun uP on clay's tuld tirt-res

HRC invites them to come for inquiries, oniy to i'ind that Lelerrant state offici'rls that HR(, cloesn't seetr -.ummoned b), th. IIRC do not turn up, *'ithout any trotice, and keen to take acLion on tl.rem, airhough t1-re I-IRC is emporverccl do so under alticle 21 of the HRC Act. Tl-ris has made it appear to the complainants that tl,e IIRC is l>iased and s),mpathetjc tor.valds allegcd pcrpetr^tors oF i'iolations, al the cost of rrictirns rvho il'r-c
tl-re

contplrin,t

n ts.

6.

11 the last ferv years,

lppears that the Con-rmission seelrls to opcrate behlnd ';r vcil of secl:ecy, abor-rt their positions, intcrventions ar-rd lesults of intcn,erltitltls. Sor-rle specific

it

eramples and rcquests for clari{lcatiotls are uetltioned belolv'

Specific requests and suggestions: 1. To irrform civil society groups about any recommendations made by clvil societf irl prcvious colsultations held in 2010 thatrvereimplen-rcnted by t1-re IIRC, bcyorrd holciinrl
another meeting.

2. To inform civil

sociefi, and qeneral pubLc the position

of thc HRC rvith

regard to

ratiflcation of the Optronal Protocol to Convention against Tortr-rte aud CotrveuLiotl against Disappeerances. Whether thc HRC feels that tl-re Govcrntnent oI Sri Lanl<a should rati[1, nbe1,s or not, anc] rcasons. And if it's posilion is that i]rc Clovcrnt.uent sho,.rld ratify thsss, rvhat docs it intcnd to do, and rvl-ren, in [ne lr'ill-r il's Furrcliot-t to "ma1ie recommendations to the Government on the t-reed to sr-rbscribc or accccle lo treaties ar-rcl other international insu-umcnls irt the flelcl oFhlttratl rights" (Articlc L0 -r: c'i
thc I{1LC Act)

3. 'I'o inform civil society anci gcneral

pubhc, the position oI the IIRC rvith rt:Etrd to lhe neecl lol a "Right to Inforn-ration r\ct" at-rd "\rictin-r and Witrtess 1)roteclion r\ct" in Sr:i Lar-rka. A1d if the IIRC cleen-rs such r\ct (s) as necessary lot t1.re pronroLion atrd pr:otectior-r of human rights, what stePs it ir-rter-rds to take, ancl lvhell, in [ne u'itl.r it's

f,-rncdon

to "advice and

assist tl're Gor.ernt-t-tcttt

in fornrnlatirlg lcgislauorl and

4.

administrative directives and procedures, in lurtherance of, the promotion and protcction of fundamental rights". (Article 10-c of the HRC Act) Given the several statements by you, Hon. Chairman, that the HRC has no role to play

5.

with regard to the Prever-ition of Terrorism Act pTA), I would like to know rvhethet tl, is is a personal position of the Hon. Chairman or that of the I-IRC? Further, r,vhether the HRC could inform civil society and general public, whether the HRC believes the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) is in line rvith Slt Lanka's itttcrr-rational human rigirts obligations, and if no, what actions it intends to take and r.vhen, in line with it's fr.rnction to "malie recommendations to thc Govcrnr-netrt regarding ueasltres rvhich shoulcl bc taken to ensure that national larvs and administralive ptaclices are itl accorclance rviih internatiotral human rights norms ancl standards" (Article 1tl -d oFthe IIRCAct). To inform civil society and general public, rvhether the FIRC agrccs or clisagrccs rvith the call of the UN I-Iigh Commissioncr for Flunar-r fugl-rts ancl the Panel of Expcr-ts ol' lhc UN Secreta$/ Gcneral to conclr-rct a intern'.rtional inqui.-1, ir-r regard to allegarions oF violatior-rs of ir-rternational human rights and huu-raniliLlian larvs, clu-L'ttrg the [lna1 pl.rasc of
tlrc s'ar in 2009.

To infornr civtl socieq' and general pubLic, rvhether

HRC ir-rtends to rnvestigate allegatior-rs of violarions of hr,rman rights ancl humanitarian larv durit-rg tl-re last phase of rhe g-ar ir-r 2009, contained in the vidco documentary scl:eened by channel 4 ancl varicly oIreporrs such as b)'tl-r" Universi$'Teachers for Ilurman Rights -Je[h-ra, Submissions to the LLRC b)' th. Catholic Diocese oF Nfar-rnar, peoplc of North, inch-rding far-t-rilies oI those krlled & dtsappeared, Panel of Experts appointed by drc UN SecretarY General, UN Special Rapportuer on Extlajudicial rnd Sun-rmary Execuliot-ts, Departmet-rt of State
rl-rc

7.

of the United States of Amelica, Intelnational Crisis Gror-rp, Ilr-rmen Rights Watch etc. To inlorm civil societl' and the gene.-al pr:blic, rvhcther the I-IRC o[flcc-,-s cor,tld malie complairrants to the FIRC as,ale of the right rnd possibiLiti' tl'ret'h:ir-c lo subnrir cornplaints to UN Special Ploceclures. Ilnrtl.rer, s,hcther the FIRC ol-llccrs could assist con-rplainants intclested in doing so, b1, providir-rg con-iplaiut forus, assisting encl advisinq theni on completing sllch fornts, or leferling lhem lo cirtil socicb,groLrPS that itre rvrllirtg
to provide such assistance and adr.ice. In vicrv of the powers vested ir-r the IIRC to "utrdertalie l:esearch ....ancl clissenrin'.rtc etrrl

B.

distribute results of such LeseaLch" (Alttclc 11 - l) lrrhcthe r tt cart proc1,;ce nrlcl disseminate dctarled rcports on critical topics such as totlure, mcdia fi'ccclorn, disappcarar-rces, extrajudicial kiilings etc., ancl thcrebl, also ftr1fi1l it's fr-rnctjolt "lo pr:omote awaleness and provide education in reladon to hr-rman rights". (Alticle 10 f of the I-II{C Act). If the I-IRC is rvrl[ng to do this, r.vhen cor:ld this be clonc? Given the bload porvers o[ the Commissiolr to receir.e and obtain ir-rlormatiorr, r,isit pleccs ,t[ detention, investigate r,.iolations that happen and irnr-nincnt viol:rdotrs, tl.re ur-rtl-rber: of conrplaints it leccives to the hced offlcc ancl branches, the I-lliC tPPCars to lte rvLrll ecluiltpcd for this task alid it is an aree a]so that cor-rlcl lead to meanirrgfr.rl cooltct-atiott
rvith civil socict)/.
9.

Wfiether the IIRC could sr-rbrnit to t1-rc ParLiament, reports ctt't issr:es r-clatcd lo meclitt lrceclom, torture, clisrpperlrnce.., ert-rrijutlicial executions etc.) basccl ot-t it's pos'el to "rvhenever it conside.-s it neccssarl, to clo so, submit pcrioclic or special rcPorts t.)

or matters refetred to it, and the action If yes, when could the IIRC do this? 10. Whether the HRC can rnnke available to civil society and general public, the annual reports it submits to Parliament, in line with Article 30 of the IIRC Act?
Padiament in respect

of

any particular matter

taken in respct thereoP' (Article 30 of HRC Act).

3 of the HRC Act, my understanding is that persons having knowledgc anci practical experience in matters relaring to IIumarr Rights shall constitute thc Commission, attcl thus, I'm hopeful that civil society, the governmcnt and Sri Lankan citizens in gener:;ri cen bcnefit from opurions and posirions based or-r human rights strndalds, coming from thc IIRC on issr-rcs
Based on arricle
such as abor
I

e.

I wor-rld also lil<e to phce on record my appreciation for eflorts made l,,y sorue Cornrrilssioners ro cornnrurriclr. t iLlr ttre t[[eru:rrcl" Ly 1.,lrurre eLc., .rnd t]rc positive and irnrnediatc respor.rse gir,-en to e request to meet the Chairr.nan zrnd Cotmnissiotrers with the fhrnily of disappealed :rclivist, N.{r. Pattani Raze eli to discuss ncs' develo})rnelrls atrd ncxt
Beyond the meeting on L1'r'July,
steps regalding that case.

inten'entious r.vere made at an open civil society forur-n to rvhich urcdil rvas also invited, I s.ould bc sharing this lctter witl-r the rnembers of civil sociclv ancl othcr inlereslecl
Gir-en tl-re fact
persons and gr-oups.
I

uf

I look forrvard to )rour response and as mentioned during the consultation ar-rd begir-rning of this letter, I would be happy to meet and discuss with you and other Commissioners and HRC staff, matters contained in tl-ris letter, and other matters related to r,vork of the IIRC and cooperalion
rvith civil society. Thank you. Sincerjly

Ruki Fernando
I-Iead, Human Rrghts in Conflict Program

Law & Societv Trust (LSr)