Sri Lanka in OHCHR report
While the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay will be presenting a report on Sri Lanka to the UN Human Rights Council at its 25th session in March, she has also made references to Sri Lanka in her annual report which will be submitted to the Council separately.
In the annual report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Pillay notes that last year OHCHR continued to support the development of national capacity on human rights monitoring by means of training for civil society organizations, for instance from Maldives and Sri Lanka.
She also notes that in May, she and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees presented a joint paper to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on the protection of human rights in humanitarian crises, bearing in mind the conclusions made in the report of the Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on United Nations action in Sri Lanka.
“One of the most notable developments during my term has been the remarkable recognition of the importance of human rights within the United Nations system and as one of the three pillars of the Organization, together with peace and security, and development. Most recently, the report of the Secretary-General’s Internal Review Panel on United Nations action in Sri Lanka, together with the subsequent “Rights Up Front” plan of action, reaffirmed the centrality of human rights to the work of the United Nations, and provides critical recommendations for the whole system to be more responsive and responsible in preventing and addressing promptly human rights issues. OHCHR is committed to playing a leading role in ensuring follow-up to this landmark document, which, if effectively and collectively implemented, will contribute significantly to peace and security and to development,” Pillay says in her report, a copy of which has already been submitted to the Council ahead of the March session.
Pillay is scheduled to submit a separate report on Sri Lanka which focuses on her visit to Sri Lanka last year.
