Sri Lanka has been charged with numerous human rights violations for nearly a decade and a half (about 15 years). That is, it is not a good state in terms of human rights, but rather a bad state that violates human rights. In other words, it’s a collection of stories about human rights abuses. It’s a story about Sri Lankan government violating human rights. These articles were frequently heard in Sri Lanka, as well as in most other countries or on the other hand, by international organisations. Thus, over the last 15 years, the United Nations Human Rights Council has frequently levelled these charges against Sri Lanka.
These are accusations of war crimes and crimes related to the recent public struggle. Accusations were levelled until the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which was held in Geneva a month ago. In this context, a unique move was made during recently concluded 49th Geneva session.
The decision to establish a special investigation bureau within the United Nations Human Rights Commission to investigate the human rights allegations against Sri Lanka was that step. The Commission is required to allocate separate financial costs for this specific function. That is, the financial provisions are used to carry out the work of running the office. Anyway, it’s been about a year and a half since this decision was made. Many people thought the commission would not do this. It was thought to be similar to planting sweet potato leaves verbally. But time has passed slowly, and the story’s transition and turning point has arrived. What is the most recent contentious action taken?
According to recent news, the United Nations has allocated a massive sum of 3.4 million US dollars for the implementation of this. In other words, this sum is approximately 125 billion Sri Lankan rupees. This is a substantial financial provision. This sum is given to the United Nations Human Rights Commission by the United Nations’ main organisation.
The headquarters of the commission are already in Geneva, Switzerland. Thus, a massive sum of 125 crore rupees (3.4 million dollars) is provided for the implementation of the Human Rights Council’s proposal for Sri Lanka. In other words, this proposal is being implemented in response to allegations of human rights violations in Sri Lanka. In this manner, a very complex and extensive project related to human rights issues in Sri Lanka will be implemented with funds provided by the United Nations. This monetary provision will be used to carry out the Human Rights Council’s most recent resolution on the promotion of human rights, accountability, and restructuring in Sri Lanka. This extraordinary decision was made at the recent United Nations General Assembly.
This financial allocation has also been made to the Human Rights Council as part of the latest United Nations budget. Many countries around the world have made financial contributions to Sri Lanka in response to human rights proposals. These financial contributions to the UN are made possible by a number of powerful member states. However, similar financial allocations for human rights proposals have been made for many other countries.
In any case, the Sri Lankan government had strongly opposed the allocation of 3.4 million dollars for the implementation of this Sri Lanka-related human rights resolution. The government recently issued a special official statement in which it strongly condemns and rejects the allocation of such a large sum of money. The Sri Lankan government has stated that “the imposition of an external mechanism in any sovereign state that operates contrary to its constitution and jeopardises the commitment of its domestic legal processes” is unacceptable.
In any case, the majority of member countries adopted Resolution 51/1 at the UN Human Rights Council session in October 2022. In any case, the United Nations made a better budget allocation for implementing the country’s proposals this time. This year, financial resources have been allocated to a number of countries for the implementation of human rights proposals. Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, and Uganda are also in the lead, alongside Sri Lanka. Thus, it is reported that approximately 22 million US dollars have been allocated in addition to the existing provisions for the implementation of human rights proposals in many countries in the years 2023 and 2024.
That decision was made during the 05th General Assembly. There are seven countries where human rights are seriously violated, and Sri Lanka is one of them. Russia and Iran are two of the worst violators of human rights this season. During this season, many murders and other crimes have occurred and are being committed in those countries.
In any case, the United Nations’ latest decision and method will lead to a major crisis in Sri Lanka in the future. In other words, for the next two years, strict measures will be taken in response to the human rights allegations levelled against Sri Lanka. The main step taken here is the implementation of the work of the Sri Lanka special office, which will be established within the United Nations Human Rights Commission. This specialised office oversees all activities related to the proposal in Sri Lanka. Over time, the main human rights charge levelled against Sri Lanka was that of war crimes. However, in recent years, various other types of human rights allegations have been made.
Furthermore, in the last six months, the situation has become extremely aggravated. In other words, the situation deteriorated further against the backdrop of this country’s people’s struggles. According to human rights analysts, these human rights violations have gotten worse under the current government and state leadership. That is, in the past, people’s struggles, various actions, and punishments meted out to those who took part reached an extremely high level.
In the past, the current state leadership has been directly accused of the repressive situation. Those accusations were not easy to level, and they were levelled by both Sri Lankan parties and the majority of international parties. Those strong accusations were made primarily by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and several other well-known international human rights organisations. This situation is not a secret and is widely known throughout the world.
Michelle Bashale, the former High Commissioner of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, who is regarded as a one-of-a-kind figure who has rendered exceptional service in the global human rights process, paid close attention to the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. During her four-year tenure, from 2018 to 2022, she was outspoken about the human rights violations committed against Sri Lanka and its leaders. During her tenure, a special office for Sri Lanka was established at the Geneva headquarters in relation to Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Resolution.
She frequently stated that harsh action should be taken against Sri Lanka’s rulers and other relevant high government officials who violated human rights. She did not, however, give up the fight until she retired on August 31, 2022. Because of her strong actions, a special office was established to deal with those who committed human rights violations in Sri Lanka today.
Michelle Bachelet is a woman who has been named one of the world’s 100 most powerful women for the past four years. She was also named one of Time magazine’s 15 most powerful women in the world. She also holds over 35 international awards and university honorary degrees. Michelle Bachelet is a former Chilean president who served in that position for a total of 05 years. In this way, a powerful woman in the world of human rights has done tremendous service to human rights in many countries around the world.
Today, Sri Lanka has descended into a deep abyss as a result of the rulers’ corruption and fraud, as well as their ruthless regimes. Today, the entire country and its people are in a deplorable state. Because of these nefarious politicians’ economic crimes, the suffering people are facing a major famine today. As a result, those politicians bear full responsibility for the disaster. Former Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bashale stated that in the past, those responsible for such economic crimes should have been brought to justice in Sri Lanka. At the time, the term “economic crime” was coined for the first time.
That is, the topic of economic criminals was announced for the first time during the session of Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission. During those sessions, it was emphasised that such criminals should be prosecuted and punished. It was emphasised that such individuals should be brought before the International Criminal Court through international law in some way.
Following the end of World War II in 1945, the International Criminal Court punished heads of state accused of various war crimes, as well as other high-level diplomats. In any case, all of these individuals are war criminals. For their roles in mass murders, they have received a variety of punishments from the International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. Additionally, some leaders have been sentenced by criminal courts in their respective countries. The United Nations’ allocation of 125 crore rupees this year to deal with human rights allegations in Sri Lanka is a wonderful thing.
Priyantha Hettyge