UN Special Rapporteurs urge Govt. to reconsider regulations on disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims

The United Nations (UN) urged the government this week to reconsider the recently introduced regulations on disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims by taking into account the key considerations provided by WHO Guidelines.

Four UN Special Rapporteurs have written to the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this week pointed out that the government should avoid any unnecessary measures that are likely to raise tension and are running contrary to the respect of the fundamental human rights of the persons belonging to different communities that exist in Sri Lanka.

“Arbitrary decisions concerning the disposal of bodies of victims of the COVID-19 may also have the opposite effect to provoking the reluctance of families and communities to report COVID-19 cases in fear that they may be unable to ensure proper funeral or burial rites for their loved ones. Ideally, such provisions should be revised in consultation with all the concerned ethnic and religious communities and other relevant health experts and stakeholders,” a collective letter addressed to President Rajapaksa said.

Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Dainius Puras, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism signed the collective letter while stressing that they respectfully reiterate the importance that the government continues to uphold the right of freedom of religion or belief as well as the right of the minorities even during this challenging time.

“The protection of the privacy and identity of the patients or deceased without identifying their ethnicity or religious background in public would prevent their stigmatisation as individuals or members of a specific community,” the letter said.

“We are taking the opportunity to stress that it is equally important that your Excellency’s Government firmly condemn any attempt by anyone, irrespective of status, to issue or spread hate messages that are of a nature to instigate ethnic or religious tensions or violence, including through accusation or blame that any particular ethnic or religious community is responsible for the pandemic of COVID-19,”