Þorvarður Atli Þórsson sendiráðunautur flutti í dag ávarp um mannréttindaástand á Sri Lanka í sérstakri umræðu í mannréttindaráðinu.

Interactive dialogue on the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka

20 March 2019

Statement by Iceland

Mr. President,

Iceland welcomes the report by OHCHR on Sri Lanka and the constructive engagement of the Government of Sri Lanka with UN human rights mechanisms. We note however the political crisis that erupted in Sri Lanka in October 2018 and express concerns about possible regression in human rights, transitional justice and the reconciliation agenda.

Sri Lanka must renew its commitment to transitional justice and prevent further delays in order to gain the trust of victims and other stakeholders. The Office on Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations must be adequately supported by the political leadership and sufficiently linked to the accountability and truth-seeking components.

We also note with concern that virtually no progress has been made in investigating or prosecuting domestically the large number of allegations of war crimes or crimes against humanity collected by OHCHR in its investigation, and particularly those relating to military operations at the end of the war and call upon Sri Lanka to create a special judicial mechanism for this purpose.

We believe that the lack of progress and evidence of backsliding shows that the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka should remain firmly on the agenda of the Human Rights Council and we urge the Government of Sri Lanka to fully and without undue delay implement all recommendations made in the present and previous reports of the High Commissioner.

In conclusion, we would like to ask the OHCHR how the specific needs of women and children can be taken into account in the development of national reparations policies?

I thank you.