Sri Lanka reiterated its commitment to UNHRC resolution 30/1 on reconciliation accountability and justice whilst stopping short of accepting calls for a time-bound benchmarked action plan for its implementation in the final draft summary report of its Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.
The draft UPR summary report tabled on Friday afternoon said that 177 of the 230 recommendations made during the interactive dialogue of Sri Lanka’s Universal Periodic review on Wednesday, “enjoy the support of Sri Lanka.”
A total of 53 recommendations, including calls for a timebound action plan on implementation of the resolution, ensuring international and foreign judges and prosecutors in an accountability mechanism and ratification of the Rome Statue were left out of Sri Lanka’s list of supported recommendations.
Amongst the 53 recommendations that did not enjoy Sri Lanka’s full support were recommendations to end “military involvement in civilian functions, returning lands to civilian owners and establishing judicial mechanism with the participation of foreign investigators, prosecutors and judges.”
Sri Lanka did however pledge to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, repeal and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act and fulfil commitments in the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution 30/1.
See full report here.
