IBA, ICJ Call Out Sri Lanka on Worsening Rule of Law
IBA President Michael Reynolds
- 19 Nov 2013
- Cancel Commonwealth Conference in Sri Lanka
By Akinwale Akintunde with IBA Report
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) have urged the Commonwealth States to make Sri Lanka accountable to Commonwealth values.
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) have urged the Commonwealth States to make Sri Lanka accountable to Commonwealth values.
IBAHRI and ICJ made the call last week at a press conference on ‘Making Commonwealth Values a Reality’ in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Bangkok conference was held on November 14, in place of the cancelled conference, scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, ahead of the start of the three-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
The IBAHRI Conference in Sri Lanka, which was to be co-hosted by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka on November 13, 2013 was cancelled following the Sri Lankan government's decision denying IBAHRI’s high-level delegation, including the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul and the first UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Param Cumaraswamy, entry into the country.
IBAHRI and the ICJ at the conference recalled that the Commonwealth Charter, passed in March 2012, sets out 16 core values, which include safeguarding the independence of the judiciary, protecting the rule of law, respecting the separation of powers and promoting democratic rule.
The two organisations pointed out numerous examples where these values have not been respected by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Gabriela Knaul, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, expressed ‘serious concerns about acts of reprisals against judges, prosecutors, lawyers and other actors of the judicial system who cooperate, or seek to cooperate, with UN and regional human rights mechanisms.’
‘Reprisals against judicial actors and legal professionals are a kind of attack to their institutional and functional independence,’ she added.
IBAHRI stated that its remote fact-finding mission on the politically motivated impeachment of Chief Justice Banadranayake in January 2013, after being denied entry into Sri Lanka was unlawful, undermined public confidence in the rule of law and threatened to eviscerate the country’s judiciary as an independent guarantor of constitutional rights.
According to IBAHRI, in an open letter signed by 56 eminent jurists and senior judges from around the world, the ICJ also expressed its grave concern over the disregard for international standards on the independence of the judiciary and the removal of judges.
‘This weakening of rule of law and independence of the judiciary is accompanied by an equally deteriorating human rights situation,’ said Sheila Varadan, ICJ Legal Adviser for South Asia.
Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, during her recent visit to Sri Lanka expressed concern over the curtailment or denial of personal freedoms and human rights, the persistent impunity and the failure of rule of law.
Also, Sadakat Kadri, Human Rights Barrister and IBAHRI Sri Lanka Mission Rapporteur said, ‘The state of affairs in Sri Lanka sits uneasily with the aspirations set out in the Commonwealth Charter. The Government of Sri Lanka has spent years undermining the values and principles of the Commonwealth.’
Alex Wilks, IBAHRI Senior Programme Lawyer said, ‘If the Commonwealth is to remain a relevant and effective international organization, it is paramount that those heads of State who have chosen to attend this week’s summit take measures to make Sri Lanka accountable to the core values and principles of the Commonwealth.’
