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UN goes ahead with fresh probe, seeks funding for project

‘We are having info and evidence repository of 120,000 items’
UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet yesterday (13) said that her Office was going ahead with a fresh investigation in respect of Sri Lanka accountability issues. The declaration was made at the 48th session of the UNHRC.
In her oral update, Bachelet, the former Chilean President, urged the UN member states to provide funding required for the investigation.
Having strongly criticised Sri Lanka over accountability issues, Bachelet said that her Office had begun to implement the accountability-related aspects of Resolution 46/1, pending recruitment of an investigation team.
She said: “We have developed an information and evidence repository with nearly 120,000 individual items already held by the UN, and we will initiate as much information-gathering as possible this year. I urge Member States to ensure the budget process provides the necessary support so that my Office can fully implement this work.
“I encourage Council members to continue paying close attention to developments in Sri Lanka, and to seek credible progress in advancing reconciliation, accountability and human rights.”
The following is the text of her full statement:
I am pleased to update the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka and the trends and issues identified in my last report. I acknowledge the inputs sent by the Government in preparation for this update, and I note the President’s statement in June that the Government is “committed to work with the UN to ensure accountability” and will implement “necessary institutional reforms.”
I look forward to seeing concrete actions to this effect – in line with the recommendations that have been made in our reports and by various human rights mechanisms – and my Office stands ready to engage.
I also encourage the swift and public release of the reports of the national Commission of Inquiry that was appointed in January 2021, which I understand will complete its mandate by the end of this year, so that its work and recommendations can be assessed.
The current social, economic and governance challenges faced by Sri Lanka indicate the corrosive impact that militarisation and the lack of accountability continue to have on fundamental rights, civic space, democratic institutions, social cohesion and sustainable development.
A new state of emergency was declared in Sri Lanka on 30 August, with the stated aim of ensuring food security and price controls, amid deepening recession. The emergency regulations are very broad and may further expand the role of the military in civilian functions. The Office will be closely monitoring their application.
I note with interest the President’s recent meeting with some civil society leaders, and I encourage broader dialogue and steps to open Sri Lanka’s civic space.
Regrettably, surveillance, intimidation and judicial harassment of human rights defenders, journalists and families of the disappeared has not only continued, but has broadened to a wider spectrum of students, academics, medical professionals and religious leaders critical of government policies. Several peaceful protests and commemorations have been met with excessive use of force and the arrest or detention of demonstrators in quarantine centres.
New regulations on civil society groups are being drafted, and it is widely feared that they will further tighten restrictions on fundamental freedoms. I urge that the draft be made public to allow the broadest possible discussion.
I am concerned by developments in judicial proceedings in a number of emblematic human rights cases. They include the Attorney General’s decision not to proceed with charges against former Navy commander Wasantha Karannagoda in the case of the enforced disappearances of 11 men in 2008 and 2009.
Despite various inquiries, the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019 and religious leaders continue to call urgently for truth and justice, and a full account of the circumstances that permitted those attacks.
The President’s recent pardon of a former member of parliament, Duminda Silva, who was convicted for killing a politician in 2011, also risks eroding confidence in the rule of law and judicial process.
I am deeply concerned about further deaths in police custody, and in the context of police encounters with alleged drug criminal gangs, as well as continuing reports of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials.
In March, new “de-radicalization” regulations were issued that permit arbitrary administrative detention of individuals for up to two years without trial. I note that the Supreme Court has issued an interim stay order on their enforcement while it considers fundamental rights petitions to challenge the decree. The Government has also prescribed or listed over 300 Tamil and Muslim groups and individuals for alleged links to terrorist groups.
In June, 16 prisoners who had been convicted under the problematic Prevention of Terrorism Act, and who were nearing the end of their sentences, were pardoned. An Advisory Board has been established to which detainees under the Act can apply for their cases to be reviewed, and I urge a speedy resolution to these long-standing cases.
The Government has reaffirmed its intention to revisit the Act and established a Cabinet sub-committee for this purpose. However, I am deeply concerned about the continued use of the Act to arrest and detain people.
Lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah has now been detained for 16 months under the Act without credible evidence presented before a court. Likewise, Ahnaf Jazeem, a teacher and poet, has been detained without charge since May 2020. I urge an immediate moratorium on the use of the Act, and that a clear timeline be set for its comprehensive review or repeal.
A National Policy for Reparations was approved in August, and reparation payments and reconciliation programs have continued. The Office of Missing Persons has also continued to operate – with a sixth regional office opened in Kilinochchi – but it needs to inspire confidence among victims. I stress again the importance of transparent, victim-centred and gender sensitive approaches, and that reparations programs must be accompanied by broader truth and justice measures.
I note also that last month, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions decided to initiate a special review of the national Human Rights Commission to determine its compliance with the Paris Principles, indicating its concerns about the appointment process of the Commission and its effectiveness in discharging its human rights mandate.
News
Racketeers imported luxury cars, fraudulently declaring them as tractors: COPA

State coffers suffered huge losses
A probe conducted by the Auditor General’s Department and the Parliamentary watchdog committee, COPA (Committee on Public Accounts) has revealed that a large number of luxury cars and SUVs have been imported with the help of forged documents that declared them as tractors.
During a recent COPA investigation into the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT), it was disclosed that the files related to the registration of those vehicles had gone missing.
COPA Chairman Aravinda Senaratne pointed out that BMWs and Mercedes-Benz cars had been declared as tractors. A total of 158 such cases had been specifically identified, the COPA said.
At the last COPA meeting, the DMT was instructed to provide details regarding those instances, but the Department has not yet done so. Some officials had already been identified and charged with the fraudulent registration of vehicles, Senaratne said.
“Wrong information about these vehicles has been entered deliberately. Their years of manufacture have been altered. According to our records, whenever an issue is raised, officials claim that the relevant files are missing,” Senaratne stated.
Current Commissioner General of the DMT, Nishantha Weerasinghe, said that those incidents had occurred before he assumed office.
Former DMT Commissioner General Sumith Alahakoon revealed that he had lodged two complaints with the CID. “When I took office, there were about 12 container loads of files flagged for errors. Out of those, 118 files were recovered by internal auditors and submitted to the CID. Thereafter, I was removed from my post,” he said.
The COPA Chairman accused the current DMT Commissioner General and his officials of failing to follow up on the complaints lodged with the CID by his predecessor.
When asked about action taken against the prime suspect in the fraud involving the luxury cars imported as tractors, the current Commissioner General said the suspect had been released due to insufficient evidence. A system analyst had been interdicted as investigators found that the database contained wrong information about vehicle imports.
COPA member MP Chandana Sooriyarachchi remarked that COPA investigations would be meaningless if officials sought to absolve themselves of responsibility simply by claiming that files had gone missing.
Sooriyarachchi said such fraudulent actions had cost the state coffers billions of rupees.The COPA Chairman said all aspects of the case would be thoroughly investigated.
by Saman Indrajith
News
Kariapper finds fault with NPP over Gaza statement

SLMC General Secretary Nizam Kariapper, MP, yesterday (23) said that the National People’s Power (NPP) government owed an explanation as to why it continued to ignore indiscriminate Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Parliamentarian Kariapper pointed out that a statement, dated March 21, issued by Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Ministry, while expressing deep concern over the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, requested all sides to avoid any action that would lead to further escalation of the situation.
The government statement conveniently failed to mention that Israel killed over 400 civilians and launched a fresh ground offensive in Gaza regardless of the ceasefire in place, lawmaker Kariapper said. The top SLMC official accused the NPP government of remaining silent on US approved slaughter of civilians taking place.
“The majority of victims in the Gaza war were women and children,” MP Kariapper said. If the NPP government lacked the strength to issue a statement that properly dealt with the ground situation, Sri Lanka should have refrained from commenting on the latest developments.
The SJB National List MP said that the Jewish State also launched operations in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon as it sought to exploit the situation to its advantage.
MP Kariapper urged the government to take a principled stand on Israeli military action that so far claimed the lives of over 60,000 people since late 2023.
Israel launched large-scale offensive action after Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 Israeli civilians in raids carried out in early Oct 2023. Hamas abducted a large number of Israelis and a section of them have been released so far.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
News
Gun violence: 22 killed in 27 shooting incidents so far this year

There has been an increase in underworld activities and gun violence this year, and 27 shooting incidents have left 22 persons dead, and more than a dozen others injuried.The latest shooting incident was reported from Devinuwara on Friday night, when two gunmen killed two youths at point-blank range.
The shooting spree which began in early January has continued into March, with incidents reported from areas such as Mount Lavinia, Mannar, Galle, Kotahena, and Devinuwara. Victims included civilians gang members, and a former prison official.
On 19 February 19, a man and his two young children were brutally gunned down in Middeniya. On the same day, underworld figure Ganemulle Sanjeewa was assassinated inside the Aluthkade Magistrate’s Court by a suspect disguised as a lawyer. Those brazen attacks, often carried out in broad daylight, have caused serious concerns over public safety and the proliferation of firearms in criminal networks.
January saw multiple targeted attacks, including the contract killing of two men in Mount Lavinia for Rs. 1.5 million on 19 Jan. A dried fish trader narrowly escaped death outside his home in Devinuwara on 13 Jan., when gunmen opened fire on a house in Dodangoda. A shooting incident on Jan 31 in Hiniduma, Galle, claimed three lives, including that of a lodge owner.
The gun violence intensified in February, with the assassination of an alleged gang member in Kotahena on February 10 and the shooting of a man near a school in Minuwangoda on 07 Feb. Following the courtroom assassination of Ganemulle Sanjeewa on 19 Feb., the violence continued with two separate shootings in Ja-Ela and Kotahena on 21 Feb., leaving two people dead.
March saw a further escalation of gun violence, with the fatal shooting of former Boossa Prison Superintendent Siridath Dhammika at his residence in Galle on 13 March. A day later, a man known as Podi Sudda was gunned down in Ambalangoda.
by Norman Palihawadane
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