Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka

Written by Budi Tjahjono – Indonesian, Former President of IMCS from 1999 to 2003, currently Asia Pacific Programme Coordinator of Franciscans Internationa, basedl in Geneva, Switzerland.

In March 2017, one of the key human rights issues addressed during the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) in Geneva is the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. The country has gone through difficult situation especially the tension between the Sinhalese dominated government and Tamil minority. The arm conflict ended in 2009 with tens of thousands of civilians killed during the last phase of the war. They were trapped during the conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lankan military. The decades conflict also resulted in thousands of went missing persons. There has been allegation of war crimes against the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and LTTE.

The UN HRC has been addressing this issue since 2009 until today. One of the landmarks is the HRC Resolution 30/1 in 2015 on Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka. The new government, installed in 2015, promised to the UN and the international community to bring reconciliation and justice for the victims and agreed to involve international judges and lawyers as part of the process.  However, two years have gone, and the fulfillment of the promises by the Sri Lankan government has been “worryingly slow”, to the disappointment of most of the victims and international community. Issues of missing persons, land occupation by the military, surveillance, intimidation and threats to human rights defenders are not properly addressed. Victims and NGOs have been pressuring the immediate implementation of Transitional Justice. This comes up in the adoption of UN HRC Resolution in 2017 which two more years to Sri Lanka to fulfill its promises and obligations.

The situation of human rights in Sri Lanka is part of my work in Franciscans International. Personally, I have been involved on the UN advocacy work on Sri Lanka for several years now.  Intense negotiations with diplomats, series of public conferences, giving voice to victims, their family and human rights defenders, delivering statements are part of the activities I have been doing at the UN Human Rights Council. The objective is to put international pressures to Sri Lankan government to fulfill its obligation in protecting and promoting human rights.

My involvement on this issue is not only by chance. As a member of Pax Romana, and a former leader of IMCS, the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has always been part of my personal commitment. This goes back in 1998 during an IMCS regional meeting in Tagaytay, in the Philippines, when I met Ruki Fernando (who was part of IYCS Asia Team). He was one of the first Sri Lankan I met.  Thank to opportunity I received from IMCS, I continue my friendship with him. It has helped me very significantly in my advocacy work on Sri Lanka, including during the difficult time when he was arrested by the Sri Lanka security, and later released through the international outcry.

The issue of Sri Lanka is one of many examples in which Pax Romana (both IMCS and ICMICA) has allowed me to meet other human rights defenders from many countries. At international level, I have come across many outstanding defenders and civil society leaders from Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, West Papua who are part of Pax Romana network. One of the key values we all share as members of Pax Romana is that we put the victims at the center of the advocacy work and we are inspired by the Social Teaching of the Church. And I believe that this tradition will continue by the next generation, who are now are the active members of IMCS.