{"id":173148,"date":"2017-01-27T14:06:06","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T08:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=173148"},"modified":"2017-01-27T14:09:02","modified_gmt":"2017-01-27T08:39:02","slug":"un-report-on-sri-lankas-culture-of-torture-is-a-wake-up-call-to-sirisena-government-itjp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/un-report-on-sri-lankas-culture-of-torture-is-a-wake-up-call-to-sirisena-government-itjp\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Report On Sri Lanka’s Culture Of Torture Is A Wake Up Call To Sirisena Government: ITJP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A UN report describing a \u201cculture of torture\u201d<\/a> in Sri Lanka reinforced by decades of impunity is a wake up call to President Sirisena\u2019s Government to comply with its obligations under international law and to the international community to put torture prevention at the core of its engagement with the new Government. The report by Juan Mendez was published day before yesterday following his mission to Sri Lanka last year as UN Special Rapporteur on torture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Yasmin Sooka – Executive Director – International Truth & Justice Project – Sri Lanka<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis devastating report rightly calls for an office which is independent of the Attorney General\u2019s office to investigate and prosecute allegations of torture<\/a> in Sri Lanka,\u201d said ITJP\u2019s executive director, Yasmin Sooka<\/a>, \u201cwe have already offered to assist both the Foreign Minister and the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission in identifying international experts to help set up such an investigative team. If they are serious about justice this should have been done two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Special Rapporteur said he received credible reports to show \u201cwhite van abductions<\/a>\u201d have taken place under the Sirisena government in 2015 and 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a deep seated reluctance to accept the evidence on the on-going violations,\u201d said Ms. Sooka, \u201cbut without security sector reform these sorts of violations will inevitably continue. Denying the evidence of ongoing abductions because they are politically inconvenient is an unforgivable affront to the scores of victims whose cases have been painstakigly documented by ITJP, our medical colleagues and other human rights groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report says Sri Lanka\u2019s progress in implementing UN Resolution 30\/1 has been slow and transitional justice paralyzed. It stresses the need for a partcipatory process that earns the trust of victims, including those living outside the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prevention of ongoing abduction, torture and sexual violence \u2013 including the rape of young men \u2013 must be the focus of the transitional justice process in Sri Lanka,\u201d said Ms. Sooka, \u201ctwo years on there\u2019s been no structural reform to tackle systemic failures of the justice machinery.\u201d (ITJP)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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