AI urges candidates to prioritise HR issues

Ahead of next month’s presidential election in Sri Lanka, the Amnesty International yesterday urged the candidates to prioritize key human rights issues, including commitments on transitional justice made in the aftermath of the decades-long internal conflict.

“Human rights must be at the heart of the next Sri Lankan president’s policies. The authorities have made slow and limited but important progress when it comes to addressing human rights violations and abuses including the areas of truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence. To move on, the wounds of the past must be redressed. That is only possible if these gains are built upon,” said Biraj Patnaik, South Asia Director at Amnesty International.

“The families of the disappeared, the victims of torture and sexual violence, the people forced off their land, and others who have suffered grave human rights violations must not be forgotten. The suspected perpetrators must be held accountable.”

Amnesty International also calls on the candidates for elections to if elected commit to repealing repressive laws, protecting civic space, abolishing the death penalty and protecting human rights including the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.

In 2015, Sri Lanka made commitments to pursue truth, justice, reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence for victims of the 26-yearlong internal conflict that ended in 2009. There has been dismayingly slow progress on these commitments over the past four years, but there have been some key advances, including the operationalization of Office of Missing Persons, the Office for Reparations, and the return of some of the land occupied by the Sri Lankan military.

Amnesty International is calling on the next Sri Lankan president to build on these gains. The next president should push for the repeal of the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act, one of main drivers of human rights violations to this day. It should be replaced by a law that meets international standards.

Human rights must be at the heart of the next Sri Lankan president’s policies

While tracts of civilianowned land have been returned to their owners, many families are still protesting to get their lands back

While tracts of civilianowned land have been returned to their owners, many families are still protesting to get their lands back. The land that is still occupied by the Sri Lankan military should be returned and there should also be paid reparations for their decade-long dispossession.

“More than a decade since the end of the conflict, Sri Lanka continues to live with its legacy. The next president must commit to a decisive break with the past, starting by repealing the notorious Counter Terrorism Act that enabled so many violations and by returning land to the people who rightfully own it,” said Biraj Patnaik.