UN expert draws bleak picture of Sri Lanka

A UN expert has drawn a bleak picture of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, especially over the past 18 months.

The Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence, Fabian Salvioli told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday that Sri Lanka has witnessed a profound deterioration in the human rights situation over the past 18 months.

He also said that there has been insufficient progress in relation to the search for the truth, and the flagrant setback in the areas of accountability, memory and guarantees of nonrepetition. The Special Rapporteur said that the situation jeopardizes the transitional justice process in Sri Lanka.

However, the Sri Lankan mission in Geneva said that the government remains committed to implementing its commitments under human rights

treaties that it is a party to, as well as the country’s voluntary undertakings. “We have regularly engaged with the UN mandated human rights system and briefed on the progress of commitments undertaken, including the continuity of the existing reconciliation mechanisms,” the Sri Lankan mission said.(EASWARAN RUTNAM)