• HRMI finds issues with freedoms of expression/association
• Right to quality edu. and access to SRH for women/girls show serious gaps 
• Malaiyaha Tamils, indigenous communities, N-E people, and sex workers and their children at risk of being unable to enjoy econ./political rights

Amidst achieving notable progress in civil and political rights last year (2024), Sri Lanka still continues to face rights-related concerns in areas such as arbitrary arrest, torture, and the freedoms of expression and association, according to the latest survey conducted by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI).

The survey findings released yesterday (23) are based on input from HR experts from Sri Lanka. It discussed several key areas of concern including civil and political rights, economic and social rights, and groups at risk of their violations. The HRMI publishes annual HR scores for 14 types of HR including nine civil and political rights, which are measured based on an annual survey among HR experts from each country, and also five economic and social rights that are measured based on the national and international databases relating to each country. Income-adjusted scores issued only on social and economic rights indicate what a Government is capable of achieving at its existing income level, while the global best scores indicate the best scores in the world.

Discussing safety from the State and physical integrity rights, the survey findings indicated that the overall score for five key physical integrity rights – i.e. freedom from arbitrary arrest, forced disappearance, the death penalty, extrajudicial execution, and torture and ill-treatment – had improved compared to the situation recorded in 2023. The over time graphs of Sri Lanka’s scores for the five physical integrity rights over the last three years from 2022 to 2024 showed a gradual but steady progress. It was explained that HR advocates, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning, intersex, asexual plus (LGBTQIA+) people, protesters or political activists, people suspected of terrorism or those accused of crimes, people from particular ethnicities, people with particular political affiliations and beliefs, journalists, and sex workers are among the groups identified to be at risk of having these rights violated.

Meanwhile, the country’s summary score for the four empowerment rights – i.e. rights to assembly and association, opinion and expression, participation in governance, and religion and belief – largely falls in the ‘bad’ performance range. In this regard, the over time graphs indicated that there has been a visible improvement in the four empowerment rights in Sri Lanka compared to the last few years, especially on the freedom of political participation. Among the groups likely to face rights violations concerning these rights are labour union members, HR advocates, LGBTQIA+ people, protestors, people suspected of terrorism or those accused of crimes, people of particular ethnicities, people with particular political affiliations or beliefs, and sex workers.

Moreover, regarding economic and social rights, the survey findings indicated that Sri Lanka has an ‘income adjusted’ summary score of 83.9% on the five economic and social rights, i.e. right to education, food, health, housing and work: “Since these scores are ‘income adjusted’, it means that attaining 100% for these rights is possible within the country’s existing income (gross domestic product per capita). Therefore, when Sri Lanka scores 76.9% on the right to education, it means that the Government is only achieving 76.9% of what it is actually capable of achieving at its current income level. This is the lowest score in this category, followed by the scores for the right to food (81.9%), housing (85.7%), work (87%), and health (87.9%). These ‘income adjusted’ scores indicate that the Government can do much better within its existing income to ensure these rights of its people.”

“The ‘income adjusted’ score for the right to quality education (general) is only 51.8%. Similarly, the income-adjusted score for reproductive health is 69.1% with women and girls identified to be unable to have access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services,” the summary report on survey findings highlighted, while stressing that these findings show some serious gaps in Sri Lanka’s HR landscape despite considerable improvement in other areas.

Experts had identified socio-economically disadvantaged people, LGBTQIA+ people, homeless people, sex workers, people with disabilities, people of particular ethnicities, indigenous peoples, people from particular geographic locations, and women and girls as at risk groups. They had also specifically mentioned Malaiyaha Tamils, indigenous communities, people from the North and the East, and sex workers and their children as groups at risk of being unable to enjoy economic and political rights.