Five years since Geneva Promises: 7 out of 36 Fulfilled

In September 2015, Sri Lanka co-sponsored United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Resolution 30/1 and committed to fulfil a range of measures on human rights, accountability, and reconciliation. On February 27, 2020, Sri Lanka responded to an update presented by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) at UNHRC’s 43rd session. 

Resolution 30/1 contains 36 distinct commitments that can be categorised into five broad themes: (i) Transitional Justice and Reconciliation, (ii) Rights and Rule of Law, (iii) Security and Demilitarisation, (iv) Power Sharing, and (v) International Engagement (Figure 1).   

Figure 1: Five themes in Resolution 30/1
Since 2016, Verité Research has annually assessed Sri Lanka’s fulfilment of the 36 commitments in Resolution 30/1. The methodology involves two assessments: the assessment of performance indicators, and the assessment of implementation plans. Verité classifies progress on the fulfilment of each actionable commitment as: ‘completed’, ‘partial progress’, ‘poor progress’, or ‘no progress’. Since March 2019 the progress on four commitments under Resolution 30/1 has changed (Figure 3).  

Approximately five years after Resolution 30/1 was co-sponsored, Sri Lanka has fulfilled 7 out of 36 commitments (19%) (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Overall progress as at February 2020
In the first year since Resolution 30/1 was co-sponsored, Sri Lanka fulfilled three commitments. These include: (i) signing and ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; (ii) maintaining engagement with the OHCHR; and (iii) engaging UN special procedure mandate holders.    By March 2017, the commitment to carry out island-wide consultations on transitional justice mechanisms was completed. Thereafter, two further commitments were fulfilled by March 2019: (i) the commitment to criminalise enforced disappearances, and (ii) the operationalisation of the Office on Missing Persons (OMP).  

 Since March 2019, only one additional commitment moved to ‘completed’ status – the commitment to set up and operationalise the Office for Reparations. Five commissioners were appointed to the Office in April 2019 (Figure 3).   

The ‘completed’ status of the commitment to set up and operationalise the OMP is now at risk of being reversed, as the incumbent government has announced that it will review the Office on Missing Persons (Establishment, Administration and Discharge of Functions) Act, No. 14 of 2016.   

Approximately 19% of commitments (7 out of 36) remain at ‘partial progress’.   
Four commitments that remain at ‘partial progress’ fall under the rights and rule of law category. These include the commitments to: (i) issue Certificates of Absence to families of missing persons, and (ii) review the law on witness and victim protection. Moreover, three commitments that remain at ‘partial progress’ relate to security and demilitarisation. These commitments call for efforts to restore livelihoods and release military-held land in the North and East. However, protests demanding the release of military-held land have continued in the North and East such as in Silavathurai.   

As at February 2020, the number of commitments at ‘poor progress’ increased to 50% (18 out of 36). 
Since March 2019, three commitments in the rights and rule of law category backslid from ‘partial progress’ to ‘poor progress’. Such backsliding took place due to: (i) the Cabinet decision to abandon the plan to repeal the PTA; (ii) the Cabinet decision to abandon the plan to replace the PTA with anti-terrorism legislation in accordance with international best practices; and (iii) the ostensible loss of momentum in investigating alleged attacks on journalists, human rights defenders, religious minority groups, and civil society members (Figure 3).   

Other commitments which remain at ‘poor progress’ include: (i) the commitment to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution under the theme of power sharing due to delays in holding provincial council elections; (ii) introduce effective security sector reforms; (iii) restore normalcy to civilian life in the North and East; and (iv) implement recommendations of the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka.  

Figure 3: Illustrates the changes in implementations status from March 2019 – February 2020

There has been no progress in fulfilling 11% of the commitments (4 out of 36).

Since the co-sponsorship of Resolution 30/1 in September 2015, Sri Lanka lost momentum in the fulfilment of certain commitments. For instance, in 2018, three commitments under the transitional justice and reconciliation category went from ‘poor progress’ to ‘no progress’ and have remained at that status. These include: (i) establishing a judicial mechanism with a special counsel; (ii) ensuring independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by impartial individuals with integrity; and (iii) ensuring foreign participation to investigate violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.   

Conclusion
Five years after co-sponsoring Resolution 30/1, the commitments that were completely fulfilled relate to only three categories: (1) international engagement, (2) rights and rule of law, and (3) transitional justice and reconciliation. Sri Lanka has meanwhile been successful in establishing institutions such as the OMP and the Office for Reparations. It also been successful in enacting key pieces of legislation. For instance, parliament enacted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance Act, No. 5 of 2018, which criminalises enforced disappearance. However, commitments in the categories of security and demilitarisation, and power sharing has not seen fulfilment. Sri Lanka has also not made progress in establishing accountability mechanisms. Five years on, the majority of the commitments in Resolution 30/1 remain at ‘poor progress’ (Figure 4).  

Figure 4: Overall status of implementation
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Verité Research is an independent think-tank that provides strategic analysis to high-level decision-makers in economics, law, politics and media. Comments are welcome. Email: publications@veriteresearch.org