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HR panel falls apart following Arbour visit
Monday, 15 October 2007 - 10:40 AM SL Time
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Just as the UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour concluded her fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka, four of the 10 civil society members - part of an advisory committee set up by Human Rights Minister, Mahinda Samarasinghe to address human rights concerns resigned from the panel citing differences with the government.
Award winning Human Rights advocate, Sunila Abeysekera, Nimalka Fernando, Rohan Edirisinha and Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, in a letter to Minister Samarasinghe on Friday, have said they were resigning from the panel as they felt their advice was not taken seriously.
`We also felt the government was not serious on protecting human rights or eliminating the culture of impunity, so we wrote to the Minister saying we were giving up our positions with immediate effect,` Dr. Saravanamuttu told the Daily Mirror.
He further noted that another reason for the move was some members of the government delegation who attended the recent UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva publicly questioned the credentials of Ms. Abeysekera, who just last week was recognized by Human Rights Watch for her contribution to protect human rights.
Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe while expressing disappointment at the decision arrived at by the four members, however, asserted that the process would continue with the remaining six members while four new members would be invited to replace the vacant slots.
`The whole idea of having a committee was to give the opportunity to civil society leaders to sit together with others and discuss issues face to face.
Just because of some differences they should not resign. You can have differences but you should sit down and iron out things through dialogues.
There are two sides to the coin. I am disappointed that they have decided not to take advantage of this opportunity. I hope they would reconsider,` Minister Samarasinghe told the Daily Mirror.
The Human Rights Minister asserted that the process would not be weakened by the withdrawal of the four members from the panel and reiterated that he would be compelled to appoint four new members if they fail to reconsider their decision.
He further pointed out that as a result of recommendations already put forward by the civil society advisory committee, before the four members resigned, several initiatives were taken by his ministry including the re-issuing of the Presidential directive on detention and carrying out visits to police stations to ensure they comply with police directives.
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