UNHRC welcomes several State legislative and policy measures

The UN Human Rights Committee, having considered the sixth periodic report of Sri Lanka earlier this month, has adopted concluding observations which include welcoming the adoption of several legislative and policy measures by the State.

But it also expressed a range of concerns under its mandate to review the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

“The Committee was concerned about reports of arbitrary arrests and detention of anti-government protestors, trade unionists, Tamils and Muslims, including Muslim women for wearing a niqab, without fundamental legal safeguards,” a press release said.

“It was also concerned by the extensive use of prolonged pretrial detention, inconsistent bail provisions and ineffective access to noncustodial alternatives. The Committee called for prompt and effective investigations of allegations of arbitrary arrests and detention, as well as the respect of fundamental legal safeguards for detainees.” Concern was expressed, too, over the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The Committee welcomed the adoption by the State party of the following legislative and policy measures: The Office on Missing Persons Act; Local Authorities Elections (Amendments) Act; Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses (Amendment) Act; the Office for Reparations Act; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance Act; and the Land Development (Amendment) Act. These were enacted between 2019 and 2022.

It welcomed, too, Sri Lanka’s ratification of, or accession to, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.