Suspend Deployment Of Sri Lankan Peacekeepers: ITJP
The
United Nations Peacekeeping department should suspend all deployments from Sri Lanka following the
latest report of the UN human rights body which warns that the independence and credibility of the body tasked with vetting the troops had been fundamentally eroded.
“The UN Department of Peace Operations has a legal duty to ensure due diligence before deploying troops,” said the Executive Director of the International Truth and Justice Project, Yasmin Sooka. “
The report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights confirms that
New York is not in a position now to certify that the Sri Lankan troops have been properly vetted and screened and must urgently take steps to move the screening process back to Geneva.”
Mockery Of Commemorating The ‘Independence’ Which Denies Freedom & Due Rights To Its People!
Abhijit Naskar,
Of course, 4th February is a memorable day in Sri Lankan history, as it is the day, when (then) Ceylon won the independence from the stranglehold of British. The suppressed Sri Lankan Flag received its due respect and the sacrifices of many people got the meaning. After all, political leaders of all communities practically chipped in, to make it a reality. Harry Rubenstein, a curator of American politics at the Smithsonian Institution, says that Independence Day celebrates those very ideals of democracy, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and is for anyone who finds faith in the words “all men are created equal”. However, over the years, in the Sri Lankan context, these ideals and the equality of all were conveniently forgotten by a short sighted leadership, making the commemoration of an Independence Day on an annual basis, a mockery and a hypocrisy. Sometime b
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) will discuss the serious human rights-related concerns raised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), led by Michelle Bachelet, once the government delegation to Geneva is finalised.
HRCSL Chairperson Jagath Balasuriya told
The Morning yesterday (28) that the HRCSL does not yet know as to who would comprise the delegation led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make its way to the 46th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland, which is to commence next month.
“Once we know the constituency and the membership of the delegation, we can discuss the situation,” Balasuriya added.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
The findings of the National Study of Prisons undertaken by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka have been discussed in numerous articles since its publication in December 2020. The study was conducted over nearly two years with a team of 33 persons. Data was gathered through inspections of 20 prisons within the purview of the Department of Prisons and by administering questionnaires to nearly 3,000 prisoners and conducting over 300 interviews with prisoners and prison officers. Senior officers of the Prison Department and key public officials, including the then Minister of Justice and Prison Reforms and the Attorney General, were also interviewed.
Human rights study exposes brutal conditions in Sri Lankan prisons
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has published an extensive report detailing the overcrowded and torturous conditions inside the country’s prison system. It is based on investigations conducted between April and September 2018 at 20 of the island’s 23 prisons two years before COVID-19 began infecting prisoners.
The 850-page study was released in late December. A few weeks earlier on November 29, 11 inmates were shot dead and dozens of others injured at Mahara prison when guards and police brutally suppressed a protest at the facility.
Prison study by Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka