Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

Sous-comité des droits internationaux de la personne du Comité permanent des affaires étrangères et du développement international

For immediate release

---

NEWS RELEASE

---

HOUSE OF COMMONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CALLS ON THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA TO ALLOW AN INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL INQUIRY INTO ALLEGED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Ottawa, February 28, 2014 -

After hearing timely and compelling testimony from witnesses regarding the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and on the issue of accountability and reconciliation in that country since the end of the civil war in 2009, on 27 February 2014, the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development adopted the following motion:

It was agreed:
That the Subcommittee expresses its deep concern regarding the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and the troubling absence of real efforts by the Government of Sri Lanka to implement effective mechanisms to ensure accountability and reconciliation after the end of that country’s civil war.

Based on the evidence heard to date, the Subcommittee is particularly troubled by:

• the erosion of the rule of law in Sri Lanka and its link to a growing culture of impunity and increasing insecurity;

• the militarization of functions best left in the hands of the civil service, particularly in the north and east of the country where reconstruction efforts lack necessary consultation and support from the local Tamil population;

• the intimidation and insecurity experienced by those suspected of having links to the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and sexual violence;

• the physical violence, social and economic insecurity experienced by women, particularly women who lost their spouses during or after the country’s civil war;

• the practices of intimidation perpetrated against journalists and human rights activists, as well as against those victims and witnesses who share their stories with them;

• the growing intolerance of, and violence against, religious minorities; and,

• the Government’s failure to establish independent mechanisms to investigate credible evidence of ongoing crimes against humanity.

The Subcommittee calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to meet the letter and spirit of its international commitments, and especially its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.

Furthermore, the Subcommittee urges the Government of Sri Lanka to allow an independent international inquiry into the alleged human rights violations that occurred during and after the final days of the Sri Lankan civil war.

Finally, the Subcommittee supports the efforts of the Government of Canada to use all available bilateral and multilateral opportunities to advocate meaningful reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka.

- 30 -

For more information, please contact: Miriam Burke, Clerk of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development Tel: 613-996-1540 E-mail: SDIR@parl.gc.ca