Sri Lanka: Human Rights Commission Downgraded
UN Human Rights Monitoring Urgently Needed to Stem Violations
The recent downgrading of Sri Lanka's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by an international committee highlights
the need for independent international monitoring of the human rights situation in the country, Human Rights Watch said
today.
Recently the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human
Rights - the international body that regulates national human rights institutions - reduced Sri Lanka's NHRC to the
status of an "observer" because of government encroachment on its independence. As a result, the commission no longer
has the right to vote in international meetings and is not eligible to stand for election to the international
coordinating committee.
"Sri Lankan government claims that its Human Rights Commission is a strong and independent institution ring hollow,"
said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Unfortunately, Sri Lanka lacks credible domestic
institutions to address human rights violations."
The international coordinating committee downgraded the Sri Lankan NHRC on two grounds: first, because of concerns that
the appointment of its commissioners was not in compliance with Sri Lankan law, which meets international standards; and
second, because of doubts that the commission's practice was not "balanced, objective and non-political, particularly
with regard to the discontinuation of follow-up to 2,000 cases of disappearances in July 2006."
In May 2006, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa personally appointed five commissioners in violation of the Sri
Lankan constitution. Article 41B of the constitution specifies that appointments to the NHRC can be made only after a
recommendation from the Constitutional Council, a multi-party body established by the constitution.
The NHRC has failed to adequately address the hundreds of reported cases of new "disappearances" in Sri Lanka over the
past two years. In a note dated June 29, 2006, the secretary of the commission said that it had decided to stop
inquiring into these complaints "for the time being, unless special directions are received from the government."
An internal NHRC circular dated June 20, 2007 imposed a maximum time period of three months in which complaints must be
filed with the commission, even though no there is no such limitation in existing laws or regulations. More than three
months after an incident, the commission will only investigate complaints at its discretion.
The need for independent monitoring of human rights has become more urgent since mid-2006, as human rights abuses
against civilians escalated in line with increased fighting between the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam. The NHRC has been absent and inactive rather than taking a proactive role in investigating these abuses and
reporting its findings, Human Rights Watch said.
Given the failure of domestic institutions to address continuing human rights abuses by all parties to the conflict in
Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch again urged the Sri Lankan government to accept a United Nations field operation with a
strong monitoring mandate.
"The commission's lack of independence has reduced it to a mute witness of rising human rights abuses in Sri Lanka,"
said Pearson. "To address the intensifying abuses by all sides in Sri Lanka's war, the government should welcome a
United Nations human rights monitoring mission."
ENDS