As a part of the continuing efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka to provide clarifications on the alleged cases of disappearances submitted by the UN Working Group on Disappearances, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights has now provided an analysis of 47 possible cases of disappearances, which can be closed/clarified by the Working Group. The details of these cases have been forwarded to the UN Working Group by the Permanent Mission in Geneva.
Prior to their submission, the aforementioned 47 cases were compared with the findings of the following Commissions of Inquiry established by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to investigate the alleged cases of disappearances:
· Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Involuntary Removal and Disappearance of Certain Persons (All Island) March 2001
· Human Rights Taskforce Annual Report—10 August 1992 to 10 August 1993
· Human Rights Taskforce Annual Report—10 August 1993 to 10 August 1994
· Report of the Committee on Disappearances in the Jaffna Region of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, October 2003
Of the forty seven (47) cases clarified, there were:
· Four (4) cases where death certificates had been issued to the next of kin;
· Twenty four (24) cases where the person was found to have returned home as reported by the next of kin, and registered as returned by the 2001 Commission.
· Nineteen (19) cases where the persons were found in official custody having been arrested under the laws of Sri Lanka.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN
Geneva
16 December 2009
Speaking at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, 10th June, during the consideration of Russia’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report, Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka made the following statement:
Sri Lanka welcomes the Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation and applauds his remarks here today. We also applaud the role played by the distinguished Ambassador of Russia, His Excellency Valery Loshchinin, in the Human Rights Council, in its institution/building package, in the UPR process and the Durban Review conference.
Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka of Sri Lanka speaking at the consideration of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report of Cuba:
Mr. Vice President,
Cuba participated in the UPR process on a very important landmark anniversary in its history: 50 years after the victory of the Cuban revolution. Cuba’s participation in the UPR has been a model of dynamism and active engagement. Here, Sri Lanka would like to salute the role played by Ambassador Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios, who has been a militant combatant and a field commander in the battle of ideas in the Human Rights Council.
Ambassador Gopinathan Achamkulangare of India, responding yesterday to the remarks on Sri Lanka included in the statement of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Navi Pillay said, "...it will be prudent to adhere to the outcome of the special session and be sensitive to the concerns expressed already, rather than take a position on contested proposals or controversial issues and ideas, which did not find eventual acceptance in the outcome of the special session."
Sri Lanka's Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka tells UK, France, to submit their own past military conduct to international inquiry
Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka responding to statements by the EU, UK and France supporting High Commissioner Navi Pillay’s call for an international inquiry into alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Sri Lanka, made the following remarks at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva during the General Debate today:
“Mr. President,
Sri Lanka noted with some degree of amusement that the EU, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France were all cheering on the notion of an International Inquiry into allegations of human rights violations conducted “by all sides”, as they put it, to the Sri Lankan conflict.
Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka responds to UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay’s call for International Inquiry:
Thank you Mr. President, Madam High Commissioner,
Madam High Commissioner welcomed last week’s Human Rights Council Special Session – may I echo that with a slight modification – Sri Lanka welcomes the outcome of last week’s Human Rights Council Special Session. We hope it was as good for the co-sponsors of the Special Session as it was for us in Sri Lanka, though I am not sure I’d recommend that we should all do it again sometime soon.
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka speaks at the recently concluded 11th special session of the UN Human Rights Council
The Resolution submitted by Sri Lanka and co-sponsors was adopted with a convincing majority of 29 for and 12 against with 6 abstaining.