Rights treated like rites

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

Government Departments are blatantly disregarding recommendations made by the Human Rights Commission, with over 400 of the Commission’s recommendations not being implemented to date, Commission Chairman Justice P. Ramanathan charged.

“The Human Rights Commission Act doesn’t give our recommendations any binding power nor any punitive power if a recommendation is not implemented, virtually rendering us ineffectual”, Justice Ramanathan said.

In the event of non-implementation of the Commission’s views, the HRC Act requires the Commission to report the matter to the President, who in turn will place it before Parliament. Parliamentary Standing Orders, however, require 1050 copies be made of any report put before Parliament, with 350 copies in each language.

Justice Ramanthan charged that these were evasive tactics. “We have brought this to the attention of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He has promised to take action but we are yet to see any positive results,” he said.