133 Catholic Priests Call For A Strong And Action Oriented Resolution On Sri Lanka At The UNHRC
One hundred and thirty three
Christian priests from Sri Lanka have written to the UN Human Rights Council
urging much tougher action on war crimes and human rights. The priests call
for a strong and action oriented resolution on Sri Lanka at the 22nd session of
the UN Human
Rights Council.
We
publish below the statement in full;
As
a group of concerned Christian clergy living and serving in North and East of
Sri Lanka, we are writing to appeal for a strong and action oriented resolution
in relation to accountability, reconciliation and human rights in Sri Lanka,
which will go beyond the resolution adopted at the 19th session of the
Council.
As
noted by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in her report to the Council,
what we have seen since the rather weak resolution adopted at the 19thsession of
the Council is a total lack of political will on the part of the government to
implement recommendations therein, such as the call for investigations into
allegations of international law during the final stages of the conflict and
cooperation with the UN Special Procedures, as evident by the lack of response
to requests for country visits by 8 thematic UN Special Procedures for a number
of years.
We
had also witnessed continuing ignorance and violations of the key LLRC
recommendations, related to political solution to the ethnic conflict, release
of political prisoners, appointment of a Commissioner to look into
disappearances, reparations, release of land occupied illegally by the military,
restrictions on media, commemorating those dead and disappeared, use of both
national languages etc. In the last year, those criticising and challenging the
government in peaceful ways including by engagement with the UN, have been
assaulted, questioned, arrested, threatened, discredited and intimidated by
government ministers, officials, military and police. Victims include some of us
and fellow clergy who are not signing this letter due to fear of
reprisals.
We
feel that the killing and disappearance of tens of thousands of Tamil people and
actions that are supressing the Tamil people and community, our culture,
religions, language, land in a systematic way before, during and after the war,
appears to be done with an intent to destroy us in whole or part, and thus, it
is imperative that the international community addresses this seriously even at
this late stage. We fear that at the pace these oppressive methods are carried
out after the war, our identity as a people will be destroyed in the near
future. Hence there is an exigency to arrive at a political solution which
acknowledges the internal self-determination of the Tamil People.
While
we have focussed on issues confronting the Tamil people, particularly in the
North and East, we also remain deeply concerned about increasing
authoritarianism all over Sri Lanka, such as the recent attacks against Muslims,
killing of 27 Sinhalese prisoners in November last year, lack of investigation
into discovery of skeletal remains in Matale of those suspected to have been
tortured and killed, threats, attacks and intimidations of journalists, human
rights defenders, student leaders, trade unionists and religious clergy who
criticize the government. We remain in solidarity with victims, their families
and those who struggle for justice. The most recent impeachment of the Chief
Justice bypassing Court decisions and due process, attacks and threats on judges
and lawyers, as well as inaction of statutory bodies such as the Police,
National Human Rights Commission and Attorney General’s Department reinforces
our long held view that justice for Tamils through domestic processes is not
realistic, despite our own engagement with several such bodies in good
faith.
We
are attaching a letter written by the Catholic Bishop of Mannar to the President
in August 2012 and a letter to the Catholic Bishops Conference by the Justice
and Peace Commission of Jaffna Diocese in January 2013, giving details of our
concerns and also serve as examples of the numerous unsuccessful domestic
efforts we have undertaken.
We
are convinced that the root cause of these problems is a lack of political will,
than the capacity. Hence, it is our firm conviction that technical assistance
from the UN in the form of training, advice, financial and material support will
not suffice, and may even serve as red herring if not accompanied by more
substantive investigative, monitoring and reporting role.
Thus,
we appeal for a strong and action oriented resolution, which will:
- 1. Note the lack of progress on human rights and reconciliation since the last year’s resolution, the continuing repression of minorities and those with dissenting views and unwillingness of the Sri Lankan government to address allegations of past violations
- 2. Establish an international and independent commission of inquiry to look into allegations of violations of international law by all sides during the war, with a proper witness protection mechanism and including with specific reference to findings and recommendations of the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts report
- 3. Appoint a Special Representative / Rapporteur on Sri Lanka with a broad mandate to address the past and on-going violations and assist and advice the government on future reconciliation initiatives
- 4. Identify a team of thematic UN Special Procedures to visit Sri Lanka considering pending requests for visits
- 5. Set up an accountability mechanism for UN officials implicated in the failure of the UN’s protection mandate in relation to last stages of war in Sri Lanka as identified in the UN’s own Internal Review
- 6. Welcome the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the 22ndsession of the Council and request her to report back to the Council’s 25thsession her observations on progress of the above and recommendations.
Thank
you.
Sincerely
yours,
Signatures
Read
the full text of the statement and annexes here.
