• UK to hold first informal meeting on SL on 5 March
• 37 NGOs listed to submit written statements on SL

  By Easwaran Rutnam The 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council begins in Geneva tomorrow (Monday) with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) set to battle it out with Sri Lanka on the human rights issue. The 40th session takes place from 25 February-22 March, 2019 with Sri Lanka formally on the agenda of 20 March. The Core Group on Sri Lanka led by the United Kingdom already announced that a new, follow-up resolution will be submitted to the Council at the 40th session. The Permanent Mission of the UK in Geneva has fixed 5 March to hold an informal discussion on the draft text of the resolution. The discussion is set to take place in the morning, Geneva time, on the sidelines of the main session taking place. At least two more informal sessions on Sri Lanka have also been planned by the UK mission before the final draft text of the resolution is determined. Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet made brief references to Sri Lanka in her annual report, a draft of which was posted online yesterday (Saturday). Several countries are also expected to make comments on Sri Lanka this week expressing views on the human rights issue in Sri Lanka ahead of a report on Sri Lanka being formally submitted to the Council in March. The report on Sri Lanka by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is likely to go public on 8 March. Prior to that, a copy of the report will be shared with the Sri Lankan Government so it has time to study it and prepare its response. The report on Sri Lanka by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will be formally submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on 20 March and later discussed. “In its Resolution 34/1, the Human Rights Council requested OHCHR to continue to assess progress on the implementation of its recommendations and other relevant processes related to reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka. Pursuant to the same resolution, the Council will consider the report of OHCHR thereon (A/HRC/40/23), followed by a discussion on the implementation of Council Resolution 30/1,” the Secretariat said earlier. A high-level delegation from Sri Lanka is to attend the session to give its response to the report and give assurances of implementing a time-bound action plan on human rights. NGOs unhappy However, several NGOs have already submitted reports to the Council expressing their concerns over the slow progress shown by Sri Lanka to address the human rights issue. A total of 37 NGOs have been confirmed to speak on Sri Lanka during the interactive dialogue on 20 March and some of them have submitted their written statements in advance. Among them, the Society for Threatened Peoples, a non-governmental organisation, said in a written statement submitted to the Council that the militarisation of the North and East continues largely unabated and remains a key obstacle to a return to regular life. The document notes that the continued militarisation stands in significant contrast to the Government’s promise of democratisation and openness towards Tamil concerns. “Although military checkpoints have been reduced over recent years, the armed forces remain heavily involved in public life. In this context, surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of civil society, human rights activists, NGO workers, and journalists are still widespread,” the written statement noted. It said that while housing schemes were provided to several displaced communities in alternate locations, this does not mean that the allocated housing and associated land were adequate compensation for the lost properties. “Furthermore, 495 families still live in Welfare Centres (Internally Displaced Peoples Camps), rented houses, or with friends and relatives. They continue to be dependent on the support of their host communities,” the statement said. The NGO called on the UN Human Rights Council to demand from Sri Lanka to put forward a time-bound and specific implementation plan to ensure progress of the implementation of the UNHRC Resolution 30(1) and if Sri Lanka does not fulfil its obligations, sanctions must be imposed. Meanwhile, the World Evangelical Alliance said that law enforcement officials in Sri Lanka have been known to arbitrarily restrict the religious freedom of minority religious groups by refusing to investigate complaints of violence and harassment and making arrests based on false allegations, without following correct investigative procedures. The World Evangelical Alliance noted that a pastor in Batticaloa was threatened with violence on 12 January, 2019 by a group of assailants who arrived at his church. Although he registered an official complaint, the Police have disregarded this and compelled the pastor to sign a document stating he will abandon the matter. Additionally, a Christian individual in the Puttalam District was falsely accused of assault by an individual who opposes his religious activities. He was placed under arrest without any formal investigation, despite witnesses acknowledging that he was not present at the time of the altercation. The World Evangelical Alliance urged the UNHRC to ensure judicial accountability for violators of religious freedom and instigators of religiously-motivated violence, implement judicial reforms via the Judicial Services Commission, and also develop and implement effective early-warning systems which flag potential hotbeds of communal tension to prevent or mitigate communal violence. The Pasumai Thayagam Foundation, which has submitted statements on Sri Lanka at consecutive sessions in Geneva, said that Sri Lanka has made little substantive progress on its commitments in the past two years since Resolution 34/1. Of the 25 commitments that Sri Lanka made in 2015 and reaffirmed in 2017, only two have been satisfactorily achieved, it said. The Pasumai Thayagam Foundation urged the Council to establish a fully-fledged OHCHR presence in Sri Lanka including in the North and East, encourage UN member states to exercise universal jurisdiction as applicable, particularly in the absence of the promised special court and encourage UN member states to adopt effective bilateral measures, such as vetting procedures that would deny travel privileges to those credibly accused of international crimes. It also urged the Council to adopt alternate UN processes involving multiple UN organs if required to establish criminal accountability should Sri Lanka continue to fail to implement its commitments to the UNHRC. The Government will respond to the concerns and proposals made when the Sri Lankan delegation visiting Geneva presents its country statement on 20 March.