SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS VISITING SRI LANKA

30 November 2005

The Commission on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, has begun a visit to Sri Lanka that will last until 9 December 2005.

The Special Rapporteur will visit Colombo, Batticaloa, Ampara and Killinochchi. During his visit, Philip Alston is scheduled to meet Government officials, representatives of the police, the judiciary and the security forces as well as representatives of the LTTE. He also plans to meet with representatives of the civil society, of political parties as well as the Human Rights Commission.

The visit comes at the invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka. On completion of the mission, the Special Rapporteur will prepare a report to be presented at the sixty-second session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 2006.

Mr. Alston is currently Professor of Law at New York University and Faculty Director of its Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. He previously chaired the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for eight years (1991-98) and is presently Special Adviser to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights in relation to the Millennium Development Goals. He has published extensively on all aspect of international human rights law.