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"Human
Rights Protection and Effective Monitoring Urgently Needed
For a Just and Democratic Peace"
We the undersigned, have long been committed to the integration of HUMAN RIGHTS
into every stage of the peace process and are concerned that this was not adequately
reflected in the official statement of the last session of talks in Hakone.
We note that since then the LTTE has suspended its participation in negotiations
whilst at the same time reiterating its commitment to seek a negotiated political
solution to the ethnic conflict.
We welcome the appointment of Mr Ian Martin as the Human Rights Advisor to the
two negotiating parties at the fourth session of the peace talks in Thailand,
6-9 January 2003. However, we note that the statement issued at the conclusion
of the Hakone sessions indicated the apparent lack of commitment by the two
parties and their Norwegian facilitators to making meaningful human rights protection
an integral part of the peace process in the interim period prior to a final
constitutional settlement. We are perturbed that the two parties have still
not made a clear and public commitment that they will be bound by these norms
in verifiable and effective ways. We believe that no peace in Sri Lanka can
be either just or sustainable in the absence of strong and effective protection
of the full set of fundamental civil, political, economic, social, and cultural
rights as recognized in a broad range of internationally accepted covenants.
We therefore urge the two parties and their facilitators, as well as the community
of bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors to Sri Lanka to reaffirm that the protection
of the human rights of all Sri Lankans will be guaranteed throughout the duration
of the peace process.
In particular, we write to express our deep concern over the following :
1. We were disappointed that the two parties at the Hakone session of talks
opted for a markedly limited focus on HR . While the parties have requested
Mr. Martin to draft a "Declaration of Human Rights and Humanitarian Principles"
which would "reflect aspects of fundamental human rights and humanitarian
standards," in our view this falls short of a commitment to the protection
of the full range of rights recognized in international human rights and humanitarian
law. We call on the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to commit themselves
to a comprehensive and binding human rights document, which would be in force
until a final constitutional settlement (itself grounded in this same set of
international norms) is agreed to and enacted.
2. We also call on the negotiating parties to agree explicitly to an effective
mechanism for the monitoring and protection of human rights. Any such system
would require from the start a strong international element that is fully independent
of the parties to the conflict and that would have as its mandate the protection
of internationally recognized human rights and humanitarian law. The agreement
by the two parties at Hakone to "undertake to ensure" that "aspects
of fundamental international human rights and humanitarian standards" are
"respected in practice by their personnel" is no substitute for a
strong mechanism that would allow for independent and effective monitoring.
We are disappointed to note that the Hakone statement makes no firm commitment
to any monitoring mechanism. It states instead that Mr. Martin has been asked
to submit "proposals for the strengthening of the Human Rights Commission
of Sri Lanka to enable it to develop the capacity for increasingly effective
monitoring throughout the country," and that these proposals "would
involve international advice and assistance to the HRC from the Office of the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights" and in "close coordination
with" UNICEF, UNHCR, and the SLMM. While we appreciate the recognition
that the Human Rights Commission does not presently have the capacity for effective
human rights monitoring, we are disturbed by the absence of provisions for effective
monitoring which would commence immediately.
We are furthermore concerned that an arrangement whereby certain agencies would
have - at most - the task of monitoring only a specified set of rights - "UNICEF
in relation to child protection, UNHCR in relation to the protection of returning
internally displaced persons and refugees, and SLMM in relation to acts against
the civilian population"- is not an adequate substitute for an independent
and effective body of international monitors. Relying on the SLMM to offer assistance
to the Human Rights Commission for the prevention of "acts against the
civilian population" is clearly not adequate, given the fact that the primary
commitment of the SLMM remains the preservation of the cease fire agreement,
not the protection of civilians' rights.
3. With regard to the need for independent monitoring, we are concerned by the
emerging outlines of the "Action Plan" for the rights of children,
the monitoring of which "will be undertaken by a steering committee comprising
of the TRO and the Dept of Probation and Childcare Services, and facilitated
by UNICEF". We are especially concerned by the provision that children
demobilized from the ranks of the LTTE will be housed in "transit centres
co -managed by the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO ) and UNICEF".
The provision that " local probation and child care services officials
will have periodic access to the transit centres" is in our view inadequate.
Without specification of how long the children will remain "in transit,"
or specific rules to guarantee the protection of the rights of the children
involved, such an arrangement is subject to potentially grave abuse. Without
independent, effective and continuous monitoring , even the strongest set of
rules would be of little avail.
Many of the concerns outlined above are connected to the general limitations
of the tripartite "Government-LTTE-International Agency" model that
the two parties seem to have accepted. The less than transparent and inclusive
process of developing policies or formulating action plans, excluding civil
society participation, prejudices the quality of their content and effectiveness
of their implementation.
In conclusion, we call on all the parties involved, including the international
donors, to ensure that meaningful human rights protection is adopted in practice
as an integral part of Sri Lanka's peace process.
SIGNED
------
Sunila Abeysekera
Sunil Bastian
Sunanda Deshapriya
Rohan Edrisinha
Desmond Fernando
Mario Gomez
Ketheshwaran Loganathan
Manouri Muttetuwegama
Ramani Muttetuwegama
Jehan Perera
Kingsley Rodrigo
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Suriya Wickremasinghe
Joe William
Javid Yusuf
6th May, 2003
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