Sri Lanka to set up National Inquiry on Torture, says Kamalesh Sharma

It will be monitored by Commonwealth, says Kamalesh Sharma

November 08, 2013 08:35 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 08:02 pm IST - London

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma at the Commonwealth Youth Leaders' Forum on 15th April 2013 at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Photo: Handout_E_Mail

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma at the Commonwealth Youth Leaders' Forum on 15th April 2013 at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Photo: Handout_E_Mail

The Commonwealth Secretariat will assist Sri Lanka in setting up a National Inquiry on Torture, its Secretary-General Mr. Kamalesh Sharma said in an interview to The Hindu at the Secretariat headquarters at Marlborough House on the eve of his departure to Colombo to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

To be set up under the aegis of the Sri Lanka National Human Rights Commission and to be assisted and monitored by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the inquiry will investigate all allegations of torture committed by government agencies or arms of the state from 2009 (the final stages of the civil war) to the present, he said.

The Secretariat has come under harsh criticism from international human rights groups, the media, and some member-countries who accuse it of sweeping human rights concerns under the carpet in respect of Sri Lanka, which is to become chair of the Commonwealth for the next two years.

Mr. Sharma said the Commonwealth Secretariat had in fact initiated the process that would bring the issue of torture and national reconciliation under Commonwealth scrutiny and compliance. “We are also putting in place a scheme… that will assist Sri Lanka progress towards national reconciliation,” Mr. Sharma said.

The inquiry would take 18 months to complete its work, Mr. Sharma said.

Asked why it would take so long, he said complex processes took time. “Progress does not happen in a vacuum; it can only be secured if national institutions such as the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) are strengthened and given muscle and spine to do their work, with an advisory group from the Commonwealth.”

Advocate Karen McKenzie, Acting Head, Human Rights in the Commonwealth Secretariat, told The Hindu : “The SLHRC must be part of the national protection system for human rights in Sri Lanka if this is not to be window-dressing but sustainable institutional reform.”

The Commonwealth Secretariat’s role in the torture inquiry, Ms. McKenzie said, would be to build institutional capacity through its own set of best practices on the conduct of national inquiries in compliance with international human rights standards, drawing from the experiences of South Africa, Namibia and Northern Ireland. “We will support Sri Lanka every step of the way to ensure that best practices are complied with, and will be on the ground during critical phases of the inquiry — the information gathering phase, for example. Finally, we will have a Commonwealth Advisory Group to ensure compliance.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.