UN to discuss disappearances in Sri Lanka this week

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will discuss disappearances in Sri Lanka this week when it begins meeting for its 33rd session.

The report of the Working Group on?Enforced of Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) on its?mission to Sri Lanka will be discussed on Thursday during the session in Geneva.

The Government has told the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances that it is studying the recommendations made by the Working Group in its report with a view to their implementation.

In a statement submitted to the UN Human Rights Council to its 33rd session which begins tomorrow, the Government said that it was pleased with the visit to Sri Lanka by WGEID last November.

“The Government of Sri Lanka, formed following the Presidential Elections in January 2015 and Parliamentary Elections in August 2015, is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, strengthening democracy, good governance and the rule of law, reconciliation, and development,” the Government said.

The Government said that it considers its engagement with the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances as an important component of its reconciliation efforts and steps being taken to uphold the human rights of all her citizens. Accordingly, Sri Lanka will continue to stay engaged closely with the Working Group.

“The Government is studying the recommendations made by the Working Group with a view to their implementation, and will continue to provide updates to the Working Group,” the Government said in its submission.

WGEID has noted in its report that overall, the victims of enforced disappearances have very little faith in the justice system, the prosecution services, the police or the armed forces. The chronic pattern of impunity still exists with regard to cases of enforced disappearance and sufficient efforts now need to be made to determine the fate or whereabouts of persons who have disappeared, punish those responsible and guarantee the right to truth and reparation.

The report says any successful initiative must therefore be the result of a broad, inclusive, gendered and participatory consultative process. Any comprehensive policy should address all the enforced disappearances that took place in the country, regardless of the time of the disappearance and without any type of discrimination. (Colombo Gazette)