Entry to Sri Lanka has been denied to participants of an
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) high-level delegation which includes 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. The group has had its visas revoked officially, or
de facto, notwithstanding the public assurance from Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
Dr Chris Nonis, on 30 April in a BBC interview, that representatives of IBAHRI ‘
Are absolutely welcome to come in.’ And that
‘…if any institution is formally invited… naturally of course we would [let them in]’.
