Centre for Policy Alternatives on 16 March, 2014 The Sunday Times today gave prominent publicity to CPA’s critique of the government’s ‘Census on human and property damages due to conflict – 2013’.
Read the article on the website of the Sunday Times here, or download it as a PDF here.
An image of how it appeared on the newspaper can be downloaded here.
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 12 March, 2014 Luwie Ganeshathasan, Researcher with the Legal and Constitutional Unit at CPA, speaking on the LLRC’s NPoA progress:
“In July 2012 the cabinet of ministers approved the national action plan for the implementation of the LLRC recommendations. There are several concerns regarding this document, the main being the difference between the activities proposed under the action plan and the actual recommendations made by the LLRC. Other concerns included concerns with the key agency tasked with implementing these activities, problems as to the timelines, and also when it came to the recommendations which were added to the action plan in July 2013 many of the recommendations did not have activities detailing how the recommendations would be implemented, did not have key performance indicators, timelines in which to implement the recommendations or key government agencies in charge of implementing these recommendations…”
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 12 March, 2014 Iromi Perera, Head of Social Indicator at CPA on the results of the ‘Census on human and property damages due to conflict – 2013’ due to be published in March 2014 by the Department of Census and Statistics.
“Many government officials have gone on record to say that this census will help the government arrive at an exact decision with regard to what happened during the war and a lot of weight is being thrown behind the importance of even conducting this census. That the government did it because they have nothing to hide and this would be very useful in order to counter allegations with regard to war crimes and the number of people who died and disappeared… the report that was released by the Centre for Policy Alternatives which is called the ‘Commentary on the Census on human and property damages due to conflict – 2013’, was released ahead of the final report of the Department of Census and Statistics because there are several issues that came out of this census that we feel that people should keep in mind when reading the final report and when looking at the final figures with regard to death and disappearance that will be released by the government.”
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 12 March, 2014 CPA’s Executive Director Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu on the draft resolution on Sri Lanka tabled at the UN HRC’s 25th session, and its implications for the country.
“This resolution as attested to by the draft also does point to continuing violations for example with regards to religious freedom, the impeachment of the chief justice, the continuing culture of impunity, land grabs, the lack of witness and victim protection, continuing disappearances, self-censorship in the media, lack of right to information, legislation and host of other continuing violations. Perhaps the most controversial and the key part of the resolution with regard to the issue as to whether there should be a call for independent international commission of inquiry into allegations of war crimes…”
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 6 March, 2014 6 March 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has closely monitored previous Commissions of Inquiry (CoI) appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and recommended policy alternatives in the search for truth, justice and accountability. While CPA acknowledges the need to have credible domestic processes, the present framework does not provide for an independent inquiry. As such, CPA at the outset calls for legislative reform to amend the present Commission of Inquiry Act to ensure that future CoIs are independent and free from the interference of the Government and its agents. CPA also calls for the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and for domestic legislation to be brought in line with international standards.
The present document consists of two sections. Section “A” briefly examines the shortcomings of the CoI mechanism in general in the context of the existing legal and constitutional framework. This section draws on the substantial body of work previously done by CPA in relation to CoIs in the past.
In this document CPA has broadly highlighted the underlying shortcomings of the CoI mechanism in Sri Lanka, calling into question its legitimacy and independence, as control over appointments, formulation of mandates and functions are all powers deeply embedded within the Executive. CPA believes that there needs to be societal and victims’ consultation throughout the CoI process in order for it to be an inclusive one that assures confidence in the system. Furthermore, all CoI reports should be made available to the public, thereby complementing the process with transparency.
Section “B” examines the latest commission appointed on disappearances. Several concerns are raised and recommendations are made to address these concerns. The concerns and recommendations highlighted are made in the spirit of constructive engagement. CPA urges the Commission to consider these recommendations when designing its future work plan and their specific inclusion in the interim report to be handed over to the President.
CPA’s specific examination of the ongoing work of this CoI, leads us to the conclusion that on the basis of its formulation and current operation, the Commission is incapable of carrying out a comprehensive, independent and transparent inquiry.
The issue of missing persons and the connected social and psychological challenges confronting families of missing persons pose serious challenges to reconciliation in a post war setting. It is hoped that the Commission will continue its functions mindful of these challenges. Similar initiatives in the past have failed to ensure victims’ right to truth and justice. The present Commission, beset by structural flaws and the specific concerns regarding its functioning, does not inspire confidence that it will prove to be any different. CPA urges therefore that the Commission takes onboard the proposed recommendations to provide victims and affected communities with much needed redress and to make the call for much needed reform in the search for truth, justice and accountability in Sri Lanka.
Download the full report here or read it online here.
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 6 March, 2014 6 March 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: In 2014 Sri Lanka will be subjected to a number of landmark events including elections, 5 years since the end of the war and the 25th Human Rights Council session in March. This publication contains a series of short interviews with the Executive Director, Unit Heads, Researchers and curators of web based citizen journalism initiatives anchored to CPA on their plans to engage with these upcoming events.
Whilst CPA involves itself with these events, it will continue to show firm commitment to issues it has engaged with in the past. Issues include but are not limited to struggles with media censorship, arranging national identity cards for those working in the plantation sectors, more thorough implementation of the trilingual policy, public interest litigation cases, implementation of the LLRC and CPA’s annual democracy survey.
The mission of CPA has always been to strengthen the civil society contribution to public policy making through programmes of research and advocacy in the areas of democratic governance and peace with human rights as an overarching priority. CPA will continue its commitment to this mission in 2014 through its work described in the following set of interviews.
Centre for Policy Alternatives on 5 March, 2014 Commentary on the Census on human and property damages due to conflict 2013
5 March 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The results of the ‘Census on human and property damages due to conflict – 2013’ are due to be published in March 2014, in time for the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva from 3 – 28 March 2014. However, despite the Director General of the Department of Census and Statistics claiming that this census will “help arrive at an exact decision on the persons missing and died during the period of conflict in the country”, it is evident from the methodology juxtaposed against the fear and intimidation people feel in the Northern Province alone, that the ‘Census on human and property damages due to conflict – 2013’ will not reveal the true extent of death, disappearance and damage caused by the war.