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Summary: A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the second Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'National Report', the 'Compilation of UN Information' and the 'Summary of Stakeholders' Information'. Also included is the list of accepted and rejected recommendations. Sri Lanka – 14th Session – 2012 Scroll to: National Report (Read about the first cycle review) National report 22. Another notable feature of the resettlement process is the family tracing programme initiated in December 2009 which facilitates the reunification of the beneficiary with the immediate or extended family. This programme, supported by UNICEF, also enables family access to the beneficiary. 23. Remarkable progress has been made with regard to the rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-combatants. It may be noted that from approximately 12,000 persons, at present 636 beneficiaries are undergoing rehabilitation, and 383 are under judicially mandated custody (remand). As at July 2012, 10,965 persons, which includes 594 LTTE child soldiers have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. The GoSL adhered to a policy of not subjecting children to legal proceedings based on the rationale that they were victims and not perpetrators. The child soldiers released were afforded the opportunity of a formal education and reintegrated into their families. 212 youth who were previously pursuing tertiary education were reinducted into the system to follow their undergraduate studies. Elderly persons were also released without being subject to any rehabilitative or legal processes. The rehabilitation programmes are carried out with the assistance of UNICEF, IOM and some NGOs. 48. The principal aim of Goal 1 of the Civil and Political Rights Chapter of the NHRAP, i.e. ‘Measures to give effect to international human rights obligations’ is a common thread that runs through the NHRAP. Some specific initiatives that have recently been taken with regard to the implementation of human rights obligations are: (a) As no comprehensive census has been carried out in the Northern Province since 1981, the Department of Census and Statistics was charged with the task of making an enumeration of persons in the Northern Province and this task was completed in 2011. While critical for socio-economic and development planning, the enumeration, followed by an islandwide census in 2012,would provide an accurate picture of patterns of deaths, outward migration within and outside the country, caused by the conflict and other reasons. A comparison of the population data from the enumeration and from the islandwide census will enable the GoSL to gain an understanding of the causes of deaths as a result of the conflict. Causes could include LTTE cadres killed in action, LTTE cadres and civilians who escaped the conflict and migrated to other parts of Sri Lanka/overseas, civilians likely to have been killed in the crossfire, civilians killed by the LTTE whilst escaping from LTTE control, false reporting and deaths reported but not occurring during the period of the humanitarian operation. It is expected that by the resulting statistics the unfounded allegations of „tens of thousands‟ of civilian deaths having occurred in the first 5 months of 2009 will be conclusively refuted. (b) The Government has made a substantial investment in development of the North and East. The Neganahira Navodaya programme for the East has resulted in expenditure totaling Rs. 142 billion up to 2011 with a further Rs.25 billion estimated for 2012.The Uthuru Wasanthaya programme for the North has seen a commitment of Rs. 117 billion up to 2011 with a further Rs 64 billion committed for 2012. In all, investment in the Northern Province under the 4-year investment plan will total nearly Rs. 300 billion. This is in line with national policy on social protection that views welfare expenditure as a means to draw vulnerable segments into the national development process. Recognising the need for social protection support for most vulnerable segments of the society, the government continues its social welfare programmes including Samurdhi, fertilizer subsidy, electricity and fuel subsidy programme. By providing a large amount of government welfare support to vulnerable groups, it is expected to build up the assets base of receiving families. In the long term, the government expects to change the dependency attitude of vulnerable groups from passive recipients of social support to active contributors to the economy. Therefore, it is expected that a significant portion of welfare support funds will be used for asset creation. Empowering women, creating opportunities for children, sharing the experience of elders and mainstreaming the differently-abled people are priority areas for government intervention made in social protection programmes. In 2011, the Government has spent Rs.98 billion towards upgrading the living standards of people. (c) A new National Project has been launched by the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General‟s Department in partnership with the Police Department to enhance the efficacy of the criminal justice response to child abuse. The resources for the project are provided by the GoSL and UNICEF. The primary objectives of this project are to expedite the processing and the passage of cases of child abuse through the several phases of the criminal justice system and to prevent secondary victimisation of child victims of abuse in consequence of their involvement in the criminal justice system. A secondary objective of the project is to enhance the professionalism in the conduct of criminal and forensic investigations, and the conduct of prosecutions. (d) The Inspector-General of Police, in December 2011, issued strict instructions to all officers regarding the treatment of detainees arrested. Safeguards include measures for ensuring the physical safety and dignity of the arrested individual as well as reiterating internal controls with regard to handling of persons in custody. Directions have also been given enabling Attorneys-at-Law to visit their clients in custody as of right as opposed to with the leave and license of the Police. Criminal prosecutions have been streamlined by the establishment of Divisional Prosecution Units at the Provincial level which expedites the prosecution of terrorism offences. (e) With regard to access to persons detained on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activity, a database containing details of all detainees/arrested suspects has been established in order to facilitate their Next of Kin (NoK) to obtain details. Wide publicity has been given in all three languages regarding access to the database by the NoK and several persons have utilized the service. (f) The GoSL is committed to taking necessary steps to ensuring safety of media personnel and institutions. In order to ensure media freedom, the Government is seeking to strengthen grievance mechanisms which include complaints to Police, processing FR applications filed in the Supreme Court, and complaints to Press Council. The Government is also pursuing investigation into the current cases on alleged attacks on media personnel and institutions. (g) Sri Lanka has a vibrant civil society and our Constitution guarantees the protection of every citizen‟s fundamental rights, including rights of members of civil society. Although no special laws have been formulated with regard to “Human Rights Defenders”, any person who seeks to facilitate or vindicate human rights has the option of filing a Fundamental Rights application in the Supreme Court, or a Writ Application in the Court of Appeal, or making a complaint before the National Human Rights Commission, on their own behalf or in the public interest. The full gamut of constitutional guarantees, including effective remedies, is available to individuals or groups who wish to espouse social causes and advocacy, also encompassing the area of human rights. (h) Sri Lanka is party to the seven core Human Rights Treaties and four Optional Protocols: The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention on the Eliminations of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, Optional Protocol to the ICCPR and the Optional Protocol to CEDAW. Sri Lanka is also signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The GoSL has progressed in fulfilling its reporting obligations including submitting its periodic reports to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (2009), Committee Against Torture (2011), responses to the List of Issues to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2010). Sri Lanka has also responded to the confidential communications from the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and to UN Special Procedure Mechanisms. (i) Sri Lanka closely works with the UN Special Procedures on Human Rights. An inter-ministerial working group to verify cases of alleged disappearances has been established. In this context, the GoSL submitted its response on 59 cases of disappearances brought to its attention by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID). Further investigations are being conducted on remaining allegations communicated by the WGEID. Arrangements have also been made for the maintenance of a database of allegedly disappeared persons. As Sri Lanka has stated on previous occasions, including to the WGEID, information sharing on the presence of some of these persons in countries which have given them asylum, is critical to making an accurate assessment of the number of supposedly disappeared. The Police report a relatively good rate of success in tracing missing persons. 3. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) urged Sri Lanka to fully incorporate the Convention into its domestic legal system. CESCR, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) also urged Sri Lanka to bring its domestic legislation into conformity with their respective treaties. The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) stated that the Government had been taking significant steps to review systematically all existing laws to bring them into conformity with the CRC. Particular reference was made to the ongoing revision of the Children and Young Persons Ordinance of 1939. 16. CEDAW referred to many areas that reflected the disadvantageous and unequal status of women and girls. CEDAW called for the inclusion of a gender perspective in the National Development Agenda; achieving universal provision of quality education for girls at each level of the education system and from each ethnic group; empowering women migrant workers; and taking all necessary measures to increase the representation of women in politics and public life, such as the adoption of temporary special measures. 18. CRC expressed concern, as highlighted by UNCT, at the persistent discrimination against children belonging to the Veddha, Muslim and Tamil communities, among whom those living in tea plantations were in a particularly disadvantaged situation. It was concerned that discrimination also persisted against girls, rural children, refugee and internally displaced children, children of overseas workers, children in institutional care and children with disabilities. It expressed further concern about caste discrimination, which affected 20 to 30 per cent of the population and contributed to their poor living conditions, rejection and marginalization. 22. In 2011, CEDAW remained deeply concerned about reports of gross violations of the human rights of women, particularly of the Tamil minority group, internally displaced women and female ex-combatants. CAT was also concerned at reported cases of war-time rape and other acts of sexual violence that occurred following the end of the conflict in particular in military-controlled camps. In 2010, CRC expressed serious concern, as highlighted by UNCT, that insufficient efforts had been made by Sri Lanka to investigate the death of hundreds of children during the five last months of the conflict in 2009 as a result of alleged shelling and aerial bombardments of civilians, hospitals, schools and humanitarian operations as well as the deliberate deprivation of food, medical care and humanitarian assistance. Similar concerns were expressed by CESCR. 26. UNCT reported that under Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), there were no new cases of recruitment of children by armed groups since October 2009. However, the whereabouts of 1,373 children, out of a total of 6,905 who had been reported as recruited by LTTE, remained unknown as did the location of five boys recruited by the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP). UNCT provided information about three rehabilitation centres, in operation during different periods, which provided assistance to children associated with LTTE, TMVP and Inya Bharathi. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict recommended that: investigations on child recruitment by the Inya Barrathi be completed in a transparent manner; those with command responsibility who are in Government custody and have committed grave crimes against children should be held accountable; truth telling should be encouraged with regard to commanders and recruiters of all armed groups (LTTE, TMVP, Karuna faction and Bharathi group) to identify and make known those children recruited by these groups and to identify their fate; strengthening of the current Family Tracing and Reunification capacity and its expansion into the eastern regions of the country; and immediate implementation of the LLRC recommendations regarding children. 29. UNCT highlighted recommendations made by CEDAW with a view to criminalizing all forms of violence against women; extending criminalization of marital rape regardless of judicial acknowledgement of separation; strengthening measures to combat all forms of trafficking in women and children; and taking measures to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace. Concerns about the magnitude of child sexual exploitation and abuse, including sex tourism, were raised by CRC, CESCR and the ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations. UNCT noted that no action had been taken by the Government to repeal the Vagrancy Ordinance and that a comprehensive national strategy against child abuse had yet to be formulated. 36. CRC expressed its serious concern that: the legal minimum age of criminal responsibility remained at a very low level (eight years); sentencing remained severe and disproportionate; community-based alternatives were limited; and institutionalization was frequently used. UNCT also raised concerns about the administration of juvenile justice. 47. UNCT reported that maternal and child malnutrition remained a major challenge. CRC noted that malnutrition affected nearly one third of children due mainly to unequal distribution of services in regions. It recommended that Sri Lanka seek technical cooperation from UNICEF and WHO. CESCR encouraged the formulation and implementation of an Integrated Nutrition Programme. 48. CESCR recommended that Sri Lanka adopt the 2007 draft Mental Health Act and formulate strategies to strengthen available psycho-social assistance, especially for children, and recruit more mental health workers and other specialized professionals to address post-conflict mental disorders. 49. Recommendations were made by CEDAW and CESCR to address their concerns at maternal mortality and the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls, particularly those who were internally displaced or working in less developed and conflict areas. Particular attention was drawn to the problem of teenage pregnancies and the need to review laws relating to abortion with a view to removing punitive provisions. 51. While noting the development of a new educational policy, UNCT reported that unbalanced deployment and transportation issues in remote areas and repeated displacement, resettlement and security concerns had resulted in acute teacher shortages, particularly in the conflict and tsunami-affected Northern and Eastern provinces. School fees continued to be charged despite the State policy of free education, leading to discrimination against children from poor families and facilitating corruption in school admissions. Insufficient efforts had been made to include human rights and peace education in the school curricula. Recommendations to address related concerns were made by CRC. The Secretary-General reported that the situation of schools occupied and used by the security forces had improved in 2010, although a number of schools remained affected. Summary of stakeholders' information 3. Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance (CTYA) recommended that Sri Lanka become party to the 2000 UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children. 30. While noting the Penal Code does not include a definition of sexual exploitation and lacks provisions to punish clients who have sex with children, Joint Submission 5 (JS5) recommended the revision of the current legislation to provide clear and comprehensiveprovisions relating to trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography and adequate penalties for those offences. JS5 also recommended strengthening and enforcing legislation addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. 31. While noting that corporal punishment of children is lawful in Sri Lanka, Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children recommended enacting legislation to prohibit explicitly corporal punishment of children in all settings, including the home. 32. MRG recommended ensuring the protection of rehabilitated child soldiers, who might be subject to discrimination and surveillance. 47. JS5 recommended adopting legal provisions prohibiting early and forced marriages and raising the minimum legal age for marriage to 18 years for both boys and girls. 62. CSW noted several recent cases of schools refusing admission to Protestant children on the grounds of religion. Although public schools require children to receive education about their own religion, very few schools had provision for religious education in Christianity. 63. JS1 noted the shortage of Tamil-language teachers, especially in the hill country, and reduced access and availability of education in the Tamil-language within those communities, which in turn impacted on the socio-economic opportunities available to these communities and their cultural identity. 75. According to CCT, thousands of school children in the IDP camps are without proper education/schooling. Few schools have facilities for their continuous education. Most of the teachers appointed are volunteers from the IDP camps themselves. Accepted and Rejected Recommendations The following recommendations were accepted: A - 127.33. Ensure structural and operational independence of the national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles (Maldives); A - 127.49. Share with the international community its experiences in rehabilitating and reintegrating former LTTE child soldiers (Cuba); A - 127.50. Continue to prioritize the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers (Italy); A - 127.62. Intensify its policies and programs undertaken to ensure the protection of women and children (Algeria); A - 127.64. Adopt appropriate and concrete measures to prevent the disadvantageous and unequal status of women and girls (Rwanda); A - 127.70. Increase its efforts on strengthening protection of children’s rights in such areas as child labor, domestic violence, trafficking and sexual exploitation (Iran (Islamic Republic of)); A - 127.71. Formulate a comprehensive national strategy for the protection of the rights of children, with a view to ensuring compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, following the review of national laws (South Africa); A - 127.72. Take measures to guarantee full protection of children’s human rights by rehabilitating the ex-combatants and eliminating and reducing, among others, child trafficking, child sexual abuse and violence against children (Holy See); A - 127.73. Work on the elimination of the causes of minor’s recruitment by armed groups and guarantee full rehabilitation, social reintegration and school reintegration of those children who participated or were affected by the conflict, including those who had to be accommodated in internal displaced camps and to take into account the linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity in Sri Lanka (Uruguay); A - 127.89. Continue to improve accessibility to education, especially in the post- conflict and underdeveloped areas (Singapore); The following recommendations were rejected: R - 128.39. Guarantee access to the North and the East of the country to international and local humanitarian organizations specialized on family tracing and reunification programs (Uruguay); R - 128.41. Strengthen the capacities of its National Human Rights Commission, make it more independent and bring it in conformity with the Paris Principles (Tunisia); R - 128.64. Determine the whereabouts of children whose fate is unknown (Uruguay); R - 128.74. Make every effort to ensure that those responsible for crimes against children, and in particularly concerning the recruitment of child soldiers, are brought to justice as soon as possible (Sweden); No recommendations are pending or no clear decision was taken.
Tuesday 1st November - 2.30 p.m. - 6.00 p.m
Compilation of UN information
Summary of Stakeholder information
Accepted and Rejected Recommendations