Sri Lanka: Tamil hartal in North and East
Jehan Perera in Colombo
SRI LANKA secured a timely victory in the European Parliament when a motion to deny the country of the benefit of the GSP Plus tariff concession was defeated by a large majority of 436 to 119. There were doubts about the outcome of the vote as a visiting EU delegation last month issued a critical report on the country situation. The delegation had focused on economic and labour issues and found there were many deficiencies in the law and in its implementation on the ground. They reported that they had found a number of workers who have been objects of labour rights violations, including harassment to trade unions, illegal dismissal of trade union leaders, sexual harassment and labour rights violations within the free trade zones. The report has also touched on shortcomings on the enforcement on other human rights issues, in particular the use of torture and the rights of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities.
Due to its victory in the international arena, the government was able to go into its May Day event with a greater confidence and ability to show its strength. It will be able to argue that the economic situation is improving even if the visible signs of development are yet to manifest themselves. The loss of the GSP Plus concession in 2011, due to the previous government’s inability and refusal to meet the EU’s human rights requirements struck a significant blow to the economy.
It is reported that the EU will impose conditions on the grant of GSP Plus even as it awards the tariff concession once again to Sri Lanka. The conditions imposed by the EU reportedly include reducing the number of deviations from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); repealing those sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the Public Security Ordinance which are incompatible with it or amending them so that they become compatible with the international covenant; and amending the Code of Criminal Procedure providing for the right of a suspect to see a lawyer immediately following arrest; publishing or making available to family members of a list of former LTTE combatants currently held in detention as well as all other persons detained under Emergency Regulations; and granting of access to all places of detention for monitoring purposes to an independent humanitarian organisation, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Increasing pressure
As in the case of the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council for which the government got an additional two years of implementation time, the implementation of the government’s pledges to regain the GSP Plus concession has been slow. Even changing laws has become difficult for the government. One of the key requirements for regaining the EU tariff concession is to replace or amend the Prevention of Terrorism Act with an alternative national security law which gives improved protection for human rights.
The proposed Counter Terrorism Act which is the alternative to the PTA has been on the drawing board for about a year but is still far from being finalized for ratification by Parliament. An early version of the draft law was widely criticized by human rights organizations for being even more restrictive of civil liberties and human rights in some aspects than the PTA.
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