1. Situation in North and East – absolute militarization
· Governors for both North and East appointed by the President are former senior military officials
· Military restricts freedom of association, assembly and movement
· Military occupies land preventing people from resettling
· Displaced people whose land is occupied by military are forcibly resettled in area against their will
· Military engages in cultivation, trade, tourism etc., preventing local communities from developing themselves economically
· Large number of monuments for military built in North
· Destruction of memorials and cemeteries of Tamil militants
· Banning of grieving / remembrance events for those killed
· General fear people – especially women have of military, which is predominantly male
· Several eyewitness accounts of military providing safety to “grease devils”, who have been attacking and terrorizing people from minority communities
· Severe attacks by military and police on communities resisting attacks by “grease devils”
· Very little government support for housing, livelihood, education, health etc.
2. Rule of Law
· The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) is still in place and new regulations have been promulgated, making the announcement of lapse of the Emergency Regulations meaningless
· The 18th amendment to the constitution in September 2010 had made
· The government refused to enact a Right to Information Act
· Continuing cases of death in Police custody and torture by Police
· Direct interference of government officials and state resources for government election campaigns
· Intolerance against sexual minorities
3. Suppression of Human Rights Defenders and dissent
· There is a continuous suppression of dissent of any form
· Journalists continue to be attacked and detained
· Work of Trade Unions continue to be suppressed – using state media, judiciary
· Popular protests on socio-economic issues are also attacked
· Those engaging with international community and particularly attending sessions of UN Human Rights Council are portrayed as traitors and intimidated
· Journalists and Human Rights Defenders continue to impose self-censorship on themselves and flee the country
4. Report of the Panel of Experts of UN Secretary General on Accountability
· The report had been finally sent to the President of the UN Human Rights Council and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
· But no action has been forthcoming from either party to follow up on findings and recommendations
5. Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)
· The LLRC is deeply flawed in it’s mandate, composition and practice
· Many testimonies and submissions to LLRC reflects allegations and findings in the report of the Panel of the Experts of the UNSG
6. International Cooperation
· The government has not ratified the International Convention Against Enforced Disappearances, Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Rome Statute
· The government has not extended invitations to several Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council – despite pending requests since 2006
6th October 2011
Sri Lanka Advocacy Group [email protected]