"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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