Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Sri Lanka's disappearances accounts for 80% of UN Working Group’s case backlog


Read the AHRC report on the State of Human Rights in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Mirror
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Sri Lanka accounts for as much as 80 per cent of the case backlog of the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, says the Asian Legal Resource Centre.

ALRC has made the clam in an oral statement to the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council now underway in Geneva, Switzerland.


It applauded the invaluable work of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances. It also welcomed the entry into force of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

The ALRC urged all Council members and observers to ratify this important new instrument without delay or reservation and ensure its full and effective implementation.

Asia remains the scene of many of the world’s disappearances, it said, adding that the Working Group has, for example, noted with concern the increase in the number of contemporary cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan.

The ALRC said it has been informed of up to several thousand alleged disappearances there in recent years.

It joined with the Working Group in calling on the government to ratify the Convention and accept the competence of the Committee under articles 31 and 32.

The same applies to Sri Lanka, which, shockingly, accounts for 80 percent of the Working Group’s present case backlog, ALRC said.

Has the Working Group received any response from the government of Sri Lanka concerning its repeated requests for a country visit?, it asked.

This remains vital as disappearances continue to be perpetrated with impunity. Journalist Prageeth Ekanaliyagoda, disappeared on January 4, 2010, but no serious investigation has since been launched.

Prominent human rights defender Mr. Pattani Razeek disappeared on February 11, 2010.

Despite a suspected perpetrator, Mr. Nowsadh, having been identified, the police have failed to take any action to arrest him, allegedly due to his political connections to a government Minister.

The government in its statement spoke only of databases and death certificates, but was silent on the lack of investigations or any credible actions to hold perpetrators accountable, it said.

How does the Working Group perceive ways in which the new Convention can assist in addressing situations in which disappearances remain ongoing and impunity is deeply entrenched?, the ALRC asked.

© Sri Lanka Mirror

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