Samarasinghe rules out UN monitors for human rights

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who is under fire for comments he made in Geneva on Monday, has clarified the issue by saying there is no need for international monitoring of the situation here.

Mr. Samarasinghe said there was no need for UN intervention as demanded by some countries and rights groups as the government had begun to implement an agreement entered into with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. This agreement was intended to better equip the country to handle the crisis, he said.

The minister said the agreement was one of several reached in a bid to prove the Government’s commitment to human rights, following the last session of the Human Rights Council in November.

Pressure on the government increased after UN special envoy Allan Rock submitted a report alleging there was evidence of security forces collaboration with the Karuna group in the recruitment of child soldiers and human rights violations.

At the current sessions of the HRC, several countries, including Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, backed by international human rights watchdogs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, asked that an international monitoring mission be established in Sri Lanka.

They said this was necessary in the absence of a robust and forward-looking human rights mechanism to investigate continuing human rights abuses, despite assurances given by Sri Lanka at the last session.

Mr. Samarasinghe said the UN official Rory McGovern was heading the UN effort in Sri Lanka, and was joined by a human rights specialist. They would begin work with officials of Foreign, Justice and Human Rights Ministries. More UN officials were expected to join as the work got under way.

“In view of this development and the establishment of a commission of inquiry and the international panel of eminent persons, we have adequately demonstrated that the Government is committed to and capable of improving the human rights situation. There is no need for an international monitoring mission,” he said.

Under the terms of reference of the agreement, the OHCHR would assist in capacity building in national institutions such as the Human Rights Ministry and the National Human Rights Commission, with the aim of better equipping the country to deal with human rights problems, the minister said.