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Immediately screen 49 peacekeepers deployed in Lebanon, UN tells Lanka
View(s):The Sri Lanka Government must immediately prioritise the completion of the screening of 49 soldiers deployed to Lebanon in February, a spokesman for United Nations Peacekeeping has told the Inter Press Service (IPS).
The UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has also notified Sri Lanka that, if concerns arise regarding the 49 personnel already deployed to the United Nation Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), it “may request that they be repatriated and replaced at the Government’s cost”.
The DPKO has asked the Sri Lankan Government to formalise the screening arrangements with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), UN Peacekeeping spokesman Nick Birnback said. “Compliance with these arrangements will be required before the UN can receive any further deployments or rotations from Sri Lanka. The Government is cooperating with us in this regard.”
The HRCSL earlier this month wrote to President Maithripala Sirisena saying the army sent the contingent to join the UNIFIL despite being “clearly aware” that no personnel could be deployed on UN peacekeeping operations without first being vetted by the Commission.
“Further, the Commission was not informed that the 49 personnel had to be deployed to Lebanon early,” HRCSL Chairperson Deepika Udagama had said. “Deploying soldiers who have not undergone the vetting process is a complete violation of the agreement made with the Human Rights Commission.”
Mr Birnback has reaffirmed the UN Secretariat’s commitment to ensuring that all personnel serving with the UN “meet the highest standards of conduct, competence and integrity, including respect for and commitment to human rights”.
Member States that provide personnel to UN peacekeeping operations have the responsibility to certify that all these personnel have not been involved, by act or omission, in violations of international humanitarian law or human rights law, and have not been repatriated on disciplinary ground from a UN operation, Mr Birnback told IPS.
“In the case of Sri Lanka, where there are specific human rights concerns, we put in place additional screening measures in 2016 to help ensure that deployed personnel meet our standards,” he said. “Prior to their deployment to UNIFIL, the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka provided an attestation certifying that the contingent had not been involved in any violations.”
“However, in February 2018, we learned that the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission–which the Government of Sri Lanka had agreed would undertake human rights screening of all Sri Lankan personnel–had not yet completed the screening when the rotation of the unit in UNIFIL started,” he said. “UN Peacekeeping immediately raised this with the Sri Lankan authorities and the deployment was stopped.”
All Member States that nominate or provide personnel to serve with the UN must screen and certify that such personnel have not committed, or are alleged to have committed, criminal offences and/or violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Those who seek to serve with the UN must attest the same and, where necessary, provide relevant information. The processes by which this can be done are outlined in Decision 2012/18 of the UN Secretary-General’s Policy Committee.
According to the UN, Sri Lanka is the first nation to be granted the opportunity to vet military personnel for peacekeeping operations by a national Human Rights Commission. But the HRCSL on February 19 “came to know through a media statement” that a group of 49 soldiers has already been deployed to Lebanon. This was confirmed by the army. None of the members of this team was cleared by the Commission.