OHCHR in Sri Lanka

Background

A Senior Human Rights Advisor has been working in the UN Country Team in Sri Lanka since June 2004. The Advisor’s main role is to assist the UN Resident Coordinator and UN agencies in their activities to protect and promote human rights and to strengthen the human rights capacity of Government partners, national institutions and civil society.

Activities

Based on the priorities established by OHCHR, the Senior Human Rights Adviser in Sri Lanka focuses on providing technical assistance and advice to the UN Resident Coordinator and the Country Team (UNCT) for capacity building and mainstreaming human rights in their country work.  The Advisor also provides technical assistance and advice to the Government and other national stakeholders, as requested, to strengthen national capacity for the promotion and protection of human rights.  Activities of the Senior Human Rights Adviser in Sri Lanka include providing support to the UN Country Team, various government line ministries, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), civil society organizations, and the UN Human Rights Mechanisms.

From headquarters, OHCHR has also been engaged in promoting accountability and reconciliation following the armed conflict in Sri Lanka.  In 2010, the Secretary-General appointed a Panel of Experts to advise him on options for addressing accountability in Sri Lanka, which reported in March 2011 (available at http://www.un.org/en/rights/srilanka.shtml).  Meanwhile, the Government appointed its own national Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). In March 2012, and again in March 2013, the Human Rights Council adopted resolutions on Sri Lanka which urged the Government to implement the recommendations made by the LLRC and to take all necessary additional steps to fulfil its relevant legal obligations and commitment to initiate credible and independent actions to ensure justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans.  The High Commissioner reported to the Human Rights Council in March 2013 on progress in this regard (A/HRC/22/38 available here) and will do so again in March 2014.  The High Commissioner also visited Sri Lanka in August 2013 and gave an oral update to the Human Rights Council in September 2013 (see press statement here and HRC oral update A/HRC/24/CRP.3/rev.1 here).

Separately, the Secretary-General also tasked an Internal Review Panel to examine the actions taken by the United Nations system which reported in November 2012 (available here)