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GENERAL APPEAL (Sri Lanka): Institutional development relating to human rights

November 23, 2005

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME 

23 November 2005
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UG-06-2005: SRI LANKA: Institutional development relating to human rights

SRI LANKA: Constitutional deadlock; Constitutional Council; President of Sri Lanka
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Dear friends,

You will be aware that Sri Lanka has a new Executive President who was elected on 17 November 2005.  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is issuing this urgent appeal because of the serious constitutional deadlock that has been affecting human rights in Sri Lanka for several months due to the non-appointment of members of the Constitutional Council. 

The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional body that can make appointments to the most important national institutions in Sri Lanka.  The non-appointment of members to this Constitutional Council has created a situation whereby some of these commissions have become defunct.  One is the Commission on Elections.  Our concern mostly is regarding the National Police Commission (NPC), which may become defunct by 27 November 2005 if the Constitutional Council is not appointed by that time and it appoints the commissioners for the NPC. 

The AHRC has written to the newly elected president to make these appointments immediately, in order to avoid a possibly chaotic situation, which may push back the limited achievements of trying to curb torture and enforce discipline within the police service of Sri Lanka.  We urge you to write to the president on this matter.

Following is the letter sent by the AHRC to H.E. The President of Sri Lanka.

23rd November 2005

H. E. The President Mahinda Rajapaksa
Temple Trees
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA

Fax: 94 11 2542919

Your Excellency,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to extend its warm greetings to you on the occasion of your election as President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The AHRC is a member of the international community, which is committed to the well being of all Sri Lankan citizens and the nation as a whole.

As Your Excellency is aware, a significant constitutional deadlock has existed in Sri Lanka during the last few months due to the non-appointment of members to the Constitution Council of Sri Lanka. This non-appointment has resulted in the inability to appoint commissioners to lead the commissions appointed under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. This situation was dramatically exposed when the Commissioner of Elections who announced Your Excellency’s electoral victory immediately requested that he be allowed to retire from his office--which he has held for four years after his due date of retirement--due to the fact that the Elections Commission as stipulated by the 17th Amendment to the Constitution has not been appointed. While Your Excellency is willing to grant the Commissioner’s request, in order for the request to be realized, the Constitutional Council must appoint the Election Commission, which is the only constitutional body that can replace him.

Similarly, the members of the National Police Commission will also be ending their term of office on November 27, 2005. Your Excellency will be aware of the enormous role this Commission has played to depoliticize the national police service, which among other things made possible the holding of peaceful elections in Sri Lanka, ending the electoral violence besetting the country since the early 1980s. Keeping in mind Sri Lanka's deteriorating law and order situation as well as collapsing criminal justice institutions, the AHRC is sure Your Excellency will do everything necessary to ensure that no one will be allowed to sabotage or interfere with the proper functioning of the Commission.

For several years, the AHRC has highlighted the total collapse of the policing service in the country; it has reached the point where the existing policing system poses a grave threat to the rule of law in the country. Mild reforms attempting to reestablish disciplinary control within the institution, such as the interdiction of officers facing criminal charges before the high courts, have met with significant resistance.  However, radical reforms are necessary for the effective functioning of the policing institution. For this reason, how the matter of the National Police Commission and the modernization and reform of the local policing system is handled by Your Excellency will be scrutinized by all Sri Lankan citizens as well as the international community.

We urge Your Excellency, as the custodian of Sri Lanka’s Constitution, to ensure that the Constitutional Council be appointed as soon as possible so that the important constitutional role of all the commissions created under the 17th Amendment, in particular the National Police Commission, will be able to function without disruption.

We wish Sri Lanka stability, which is a pre-condition for prosperity. We hope to see the revival of vitality in all public institutions, which unfortunately suffered greatly under previous presidents. The contribution of the presidency to a democratic nation lies not in the stifling of national institutions but in fact in enhancing and nurturing these institutions. This includes enacting the necessary legal provisions and providing the requisite resources.

We sincerely hope that your presidency will alter the previous course of conflict between the all powerful president and the national institutions which were made powerless by various means.

The Sri Lankan delegation to the review of the United Nations Committee against Torture during November 10-11, 2005 of the country's periodic report gave a solemn undertaking that the Constitutional Council will be appointed immediately and that the National Police Commission will not be made dysfunctional by the non-appointment of Commissioners. This delegation was led by the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, and included the Solicitor General of Sri Lanka. The AHRC is confident that Your Excellency will honour such solemn undertakings given on behalf of the Sri Lankan government.

Yours sincerely,

Basil Fernando
Executive Director

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SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the new president of Sri Lanka voicing your concern regarding this matter. 

Suggested letter:

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23 November 2005

H. E. The President Mahinda Rajapaksa
Temple Trees
Colombo 3
SRI LANKA

Fax: 94 11 2542919

Your Excellency,

May I warmly greet you on your being elected as the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.  I am a member of the international community who is concerned and committed to the well being of all Sri Lankan citizens and the nation as a whole.  It is out of this concern that I am writing this letter.

As Your Excellency is aware, a significant constitutional deadlock has existed in Sri Lanka during the last few months due to the non-appointment of members to the Constitution Council of Sri Lanka. This non-appointment has resulted in the inability to appoint commissioners to lead the commissions appointed under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. This situation was dramatically exposed when the Commissioner of Elections who announced Your Excellency’s electoral victory immediately requested that he be allowed to retire from his office--which he has held for four years after his due date of retirement--due to the fact that the Elections Commission as stipulated by the 17th Amendment to the Constitution has not been appointed. While Your Excellency is willing to grant the Commissioner’s request, in order for the request to be realized, the Constitutional Council must appoint the Election Commission, which is the only constitutional body that can replace him.

Similarly, the members of the National Police Commission will also be ending their term of office on November 27, 2005. Your Excellency will be aware of the enormous role this Commission has played to depoliticize the national police service, which among other things made possible the holding of peaceful elections in Sri Lanka, ending the electoral violence besetting the country since the early 1980s. Keeping in mind Sri Lanka's deteriorating law and order situation as well as collapsing criminal justice institutions, I am sure Your Excellency will do everything necessary to ensure that no one will be allowed to sabotage or interfere with the proper functioning of the Commission. 

For several years, human rights organisations and others have highlighted the total collapse of the policing service in the country; it has reached the point where the existing policing system poses a grave threat to the rule of law in the country. Mild reforms attempting to reestablish disciplinary control within the institution, such as the interdiction of officers facing criminal charges before the high courts, have met with significant resistance.  However, radical reforms are necessary for the effective functioning of the policing institution. For this reason, how the matter of the National Police Commission and the modernization and reform of the local policing system is handled by Your Excellency will be scrutinized by all Sri Lankan citizens as well as the international community.

I urge Your Excellency, as the custodian of Sri Lanka’s Constitution, to ensure that the Constitutional Council be appointed as soon as possible so that the important constitutional role of all the commissions created under the 17th Amendment, in particular the National Police Commission, will be able to function without disruption.

I wish Sri Lanka stability, which is a pre-condition for prosperity. I hope to see the revival of vitality in all public institutions, which unfortunately suffered greatly under previous presidents. The contribution of the presidency to a democratic nation lies not in the stifling of national institutions but in fact in enhancing and nurturing these institutions. This includes enacting the necessary legal provisions and providing the requisite resources.

I sincerely hope that your presidency will alter the previous course of conflict between the all powerful president and the national institutions which were made powerless by various means.

The Sri Lankan delegation to the review of the United Nations Committee against Torture during November 10-11, 2005 of the country's periodic report gave a solemn undertaking that the Constitutional Council will be appointed immediately and that the National Police Commission will not be made dysfunctional by the non-appointment of Commissioners. This delegation was led by the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, and included the Solicitor General of Sri Lanka. I am confident that Your Excellency will honour such solemn undertakings given on behalf of the Sri Lankan government.

Yours sincerely,
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Thank you

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal General
Document ID :
UG-06-2005
Countries :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.