Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698754175761.pdf (Malaysia)
right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
• The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police oﬃcers • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such purpose 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 persons • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of the country The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.
Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates 44 Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
E) Measures for Negative Social Issues; • Special mechanism should be formulated for considering problems relating to prisoners’ families (for their best interest, specially regarding the children in schooling age), during the time they are at the remand prison.
• The way people respond to competitive economic, social, cultural or other issues can be changed satisfactorily by formulating various steps regarding their initial background (ex: formal and informal education, cultural and social background etc.).

the impeachment process should be more transparent and more in accord with the principles of democracy.
It must be emphasized that the “latimer” commonwealth principles speciﬁcally provide for the procedure to be adopted when charges are brought against a judge and that such charges should necessarily be inquired by an independent body which could be tied up to the impeachment process.

This appears to be a matter which must be the subject of serious debate/discussion.
It is our considered view that public conﬁdence in the legal system could be sustained only within a framework acceptable through intensive discussion.

It must be conceded that presently we have missed this opportunity.

However it must be emphasized that such a procedure must indeed be followed in the future in the interest of society in general in Sri Lanka.
• Suitable steps should be initiated to change the traditional response of the civil society over Disappeared and Missing persons prisoners, as the prisoners too are a part of their own society.

I) Measures for the Issue of Capital Punishment; and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities in the governance of the Chapter Six FOREIGN FUNDED PROJECTS 6.1.
UN Support to National Human Rights Institutions - UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, 2012 The overarching UN support to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) since 2009 has been conducted through a UN Joint programme on Human Rights which began in November 2009.

This project was launched by the UNDP on the request made by government of Sri Lanka, following their commitment given at the 2008 Human Rights Council meeting to support to upgrade the HRCSL back to grade A.
The main objective of the programme was to provide technical and ﬁnancial support to HRCSL.

This support was targeted towards strengthening operational eﬀectiveness in key areas that were identi- ﬁed by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for National Human Rights Institutions as the reasons for the downgrading of the HRCSL from A to B in 2007 and re aﬃrmed in 2009.
The Joint Programme was implemented by HRCSL with their staﬀ through the head oﬃce and regional oﬃces, with funding and technical support from UNDP and the UN Senior Human Rights Advisor.

In 2012 both OHCHR and UNHCR also contributed funds towards the Joint Programme.
In the reporting period of 2012, the UN Joint Programme continued to support the HRCSL in the areas of their core mandate, including: Strategic vision of the HRCSL – A 21-day capacity assessment (CA) of HRCSL was undertaken by a tripartite team comprised of the Asia Paciﬁc Forum, UNDP regional oﬃce and OHCHR through the Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In follow up to this activity, the UN Joint Programme facilitated the HRCSL in the development of a 3-year strategic plan which was based on the CA recommendations, National Human Rights Action Plan and LLRC recommendations and wide consultations with all staﬀ at national and regional levels of HRCSL.

HRCSL developed their 2012 Action Plan based on the outcomes of this workshop which had the participation of all senior staﬀ of HRCSL.
Through regular meetings between UN senior HR advisor and Commissioners and also participation of UNDP project coordinator in the HRCSL’s central committee meetings, UN has taken eﬀort to constantly communicate their perspective on HRCSL’s activities and functions.

Regional Oﬃces – The UN Joint Programme continued to provide support to the regional oﬃces in the form of technical trainings, provision of equipment, and funding to support legal consultants and engagement with civil society.
Through the Joint Programme, UNHCR supported the establishment of a mobile clinic in Kilinochchi in 2012 which is providing outreach to the former war-aﬀected areas of the north where regional oﬃces have not yet been established.
National policy and legislation – The ﬁrst of a planned series of consultations and a study conference to sensitize Members of Parliament on international human rights laws and standards was organized by a project in the Parliament in December 2012 in collaboration with HRCSL, UN and Parliament.

45 For the ﬁrst time in the history of Parliament, a full day study conference on Human Rights was held within Parliament with 73 Parliament Members taking part.
This was followed by a dialogue on Human Rights among Members of Parliament, HRCSL Commissioners and UN Country Team.

The project is also working with Parliament to establish a HR select committee.

As a ﬁrst step the project organized an exposure visit for Deputy Speaker and another MP to visit and discuss with HR select committee in Parliament of Philippines and the Speaker.
The project provided technical and funding support for HRCSL to hold a series of consultations at regional and national level on elders’ rights and formulate recommendations for UN OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) on elders’ rights and national policy making authorities.

Engagement with Civil Society – The Project continued support for quarterly dialogues/consultations at national and regional levels that are constructive and inclusive of a broad spectrum of civil society actors.
Though the project was able to support only 2 meetings in 2012 at national level, 34 meetings/consultations were supported by project through the 10 regional oﬃces.

Joint action plans with civil society have been developed by 7 of the regional oﬃces as a result of these consultations and are in operation at regional level.
The project supported HRCSL by developing a training module and conducting 10 numbers of 2 day residential trainings for civil society actors, on their request with support from external experts through regional oﬃces.

The project also supported a 2 day residential training for media personnel and another 3 day training for youth on human rights through HRCSL.
Public reporting – The UN Joint Programme has supported the development of a tri-lingual website for HRCSL and the maintenance of such website, publication of their overdue annual reports, provide assistance to prepare press statements and provided support for their press conferences.
National Project Co-ordinator – Ms Thanuja Navaratne 6.2 UNICEF funded Project A special project on the theme “Increase Conﬁdence of Communities in Reporting and responding to Violations of Children’s Rights was funded by the UNICEF on July 25th 2012.

The project covered six districts and the activities on various thematic areas to fulﬁll the above purpose were conducted by the regional coordinators of the HRCSL.

The following programmes were organized for the year 2012.
The Project Coordinator - Ms Shirani Rajapakse Director Education and Special Projects Chapter Seven STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN YEAR 2012 The necessity to lay emphasis on the concept of supremacy of the law n the present context, the need to protect the supremacy of law is important.

For a healthy, democratic society it is necessary for the 3 organs of government to act with respect and understanding towards each other.

This would help to maintain a healthy relationship.
The action taken in the recent past to remove the Chief Justice from her post was strictly in accordance with the law, however the procedure that was followed in achieving this objective has given rise to issues relating to the concept of the independence of the judiciary.

It would appear that there was a conﬂict between the legislature and the judiciary.
This situation necessarily weakened the conﬁdence placed by the people in the legal system and also came into conﬂict with the aspirations of society relating to the independence and impartiality of these institutions in their day to day work.

This situation has given rise to creating doubts among the people on the question whether the judiciary was capable of acting independently and also whether other institutions are prone to act in such a manner so as to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
The necessity to consider the impeachment of the Chief Justice provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the shortcomings in this regard under the prevailing law, to take steps to rectify such a situation and to introduce a policy in this matter which would necessarily strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

However unfortunately this situation far from achieving this objective highlighted the prevailing policy on this matter between the Judiciary and the State.
This situation also provided a good opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their powers and attract the attention of the public to their own selﬁsh objectives.

As a consequence this golden opportunity to highlight democratic values was lost and an unhealthy situation arose from the point of view of society.
Further, it is imperative that the judiciary of this country must be given every opportunity to maintain its independence at the highest level possible and in this regard it is our considered view that the present law must necessarily be amended with a view to strengthening the concept of judicial independence.

It is indeed essential to ensure that the judiciary is vested with an environment to act without fear and suspicion.
It is our considered view that the procedure to remove a judicial oﬃcer must necessarily be transparent and also be in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice.

It is fairly clear that the present procedure adopted for the purpose of removing a judge and A march by women protesting of missing loved ones was organized jointly by the Committee for Investigating Disappearances and the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.
About 25 women mainly from the North and East took part in this symbolic march along the streets from a Hindu Kovil in Kochchikade to another Hindu Kovil in Gintupitiya.

They carried clay pots with camphor ﬁre in keeping with cultural traditions.

The women prayed and pleaded for information about their husbands, fathers and sons who had gone missing.

Some are known to have been abducted in white vans.

Extra-judicial arrests and abductions are unacceptable in a democracy.
The LLRC Report had also stated “that in many instances it was revealed that formal complaints had been made to police stations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the ICRC.

Yet the next of kin continue to complain that the where about of many of these missing persons are still unknown.

The government is duty bound to direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and perpetrators brought to justice.
It is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of any person who is taken into custody by governmental authorities through surrender or arrest.

Comment The Government has come up with a number of policies and action plans that include the National Policy on Social Integration, and the National Human Rights Action Plan on implementing the recommendation of the LLRC.

The National Action Plan on the LLRC recommendations has to be implemented with sincerity.
Implementing these recommendations would go a long way towards promoting national unity and peace.

The government must ignore chauvinistic and extreme nationalist elements within and without and go ahead to usher in an era of peace, stability and growth in the country.

Most importantly, the rule of law must be protected and there should not be any place for vindictiveness and revenge.
Sri Lanka has existed as a social welfare state even before it attained independence in 1948 as successive governments in the country had adopted social welfare measures in the administration of the country.
This could be attributed to movements like the Suriya Mal campaigns that were originally started to provide for the betterment of the underprivileged classes of the society in the mid 1930 s. Therefore today though no legislation has been passed by the Parliament to give legal eﬀect to the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights unlike in the case of civil and political rights which are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in Chapter III of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution provide for the implementation of social welfare measures for the beneﬁt of the people.
Thus these Principles state that the legislature and the executive shall be guided by the objective of promotion of social and economic welfare of the people by securing an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions country.

During the year 2012 the massive infrastructure development of the country that was started after the cessation of the internal conﬂict in 2009 continued.
In Sri Lanka 80% of the people still live in villages and in plantation areas.

Therefore the road networks, power, water, irrigation, schools, maternal clinics have been included in the Gama Neguma village development programme.
In the year 2012 a program was also launched where Rs one million was given to construct / develop any one project in each village in the island under the scheme ‘ Gamakata eke wedakka’ (one project for one village) It was found that when mega development projects were carried out in various parts of the country there were a number of small towns which were striving hard to keep pace with the development drive taking place in other parts of the country.
Therefore a program to develop 108 small towns that come under underdeveloped Pradeshiya Sabhas across the country was launched under the name ‘Pura Neguma’ this year to be completede by the year 1015.
Under this programme the respective Pradeshiya Sabhas have to develop the infrastructure facilities in these towns such as public toilets, vehicle parks including three wheel parks, market complexes, weekly fair areas, Pradeshiya Sabha buildings, libraries, childrens parks, access roads, drinking water and resting places.
Pura Neguma is implemnted in the Pradeshiya Sabhas outside the North and East as the Economic Development Ministry is launching programs in those areas focusing on the same matters Urban development gained a high momentum in the year 2012 as many projects that improved the quality of urban environment were initiated and completed.

The objective of these developments is to provide a holistic living and a working environment for the country.
Therefore public utilities, recreational facilities and urban beautiﬁcation programmes were given much importance in the year with emphasis being placed on Colombo and its suburbs.

During this year several lower middle class housing condominiums that had been constructed over 30 years ago and were in dilapidated conditions were renovated beneﬁting more than 18,000 dwellers.

The upgrading of non-permanent residences under NHDA Programs which started a few years ago continued during the year 2012.
Several luxury housing complexes are also being constructed for high income earners by the private sector with foreign collaboration.

A number of housing schemes have been launched in the North and the East to ﬁnd permanent housing for displaced persons.

In the North special loans under a foreign funded project were given to displaced families and the construction of houses was done through a participatory approach, thus enhancing the resettlement eﬀorts of the government.
With urbanization and change of lifestyle of the people the demand for pipe born water is also rising in all cities.

All people have to be provided with clean drinking water and in drawing up plans for the development of towns and cities the provision of for rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities have been made compulsory The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is 90.8% as primary and secondary education has been free and compulsory for over 40 years.
Even university education is free in the state universities.

The state policy is to teach both Sinhala and Tamil in schools thus promoting ethnic harmony from the young days.

However the lack of qualiﬁed teachers for this project is causing problems at present.

Emphasis is also placed on teaching English and computer education in schools.

In 2012 a project to develop 1000 secondary schools across the island was launched.
The Ministry of Education entered into several joint ventures with the private sector to improve the IT knowledge of students in these schools.

Thus in one venture with The State Trading Corporation and the Etiselat Company, one thousand laptops with internet facilities were provided, the main objective of venture being to provide school children with subject knowledge via internet from teachers approved by the National Institute of Education.
In another venture with Intel Sri Lanka the teachers in schools who had been already trained by Intel Sri Lanka, were being helped to integrate ICT into their lessons and empower the students to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

The continued work stoppage activities of the University teachers hindered the studies of students.
The severe lack of accommodation in state universities as only 22,000 of the 150,000 students who get qualiﬁed for admission are unable to secure placement in the universities remains unsolved.

In addition the Universities are faced with the admission of a further 5800 students due to the Z score issue.
The government has stated very categorically that state universities will not be privatized but is agreeable to recognize quality private education in Sri Lanka so that the ﬂow of foreign exchange out of the country could be saved.

Thus the private medical college at Malabe continues with a new teaching Hospital as the students were unable to get the required training in state hospitals due to objection by the doctors union.
Only 29% of the Arts graduates are employed compared to 95% Engineering graduates and 90% of MBBS graduates who have secured employment.

Therefore a proposal to change the composition of the BA degree subjects with emphasis on languages like Sinhala, Tamil and English is being studied.

Life expectancy of Sri Lankan women and men has increased to 80 and 76 years respectively, thus reﬂecting an improvement in the health care services and living standards of the people.
In Sri Lanka State hospitals and health clinics are free and accessible to all persons including even foreigners.

There are 593 government hospitals in the island with 73,437 beds .

A recent survey has revealed that 20% 3 of hospital beds are occupied by patients fallen ill due to use of tobacco and alcohol and 72% of illnesses in the country are NCDs which are mainly related to tobacco and alcohol.
The attempt to have a warning against smoking in picture form so that it will be a more eﬀective than the already existing written warning on the box of cigarettes was heavily opposed by the cigarette dealers who have taken the matter to courts and the Health Ministry is awaiting a decision by the courts.

There is an alarming increase of Non Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, cardio vascular diseases, strokes etc.
The major risk factors for NCDs are considered unhealthy dietary habits, job stress, physical inactivity.

Therefore the Ministry of Health has been actively engaged in the promotion of an awareness campaign of the value of eating proper food and exercise for a healthy life among school children, youth and the general public.

Communicable diseases such as dengue, ﬁllaria and recently malaria which was almost eradicated a few years back also still remain a public concern.
In September 2012 Jaﬀna peninsula was connected to the national grid after 25 years.

The Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Plant was added to the national grid during the current year.

The steps are also taken to construct over 100 mini hydro power projects with the aim of making the national grid a system where electricity is provided by the public.

Already the private sector operates around 100 mini hydro power projects in the country.
Construction works of the second phase of Norochcholai and the new coal plant at Sampur are in progress.

As the cost of electricity has been going up yearly, the search alternative energy sources such as solar power, sea waves, wind and nano technology related energy continues.

Already 74 MW wind power,11.5 MW biomass energy and 1.4 MW solar is connected to the national grid4 .
The ﬁrst Dendro (gliricidia) energy power plant situated at Anuradhapura, began feeding 500 KW to the national grid in July 2012 The“ Divi Neguma” National Program that was launched in March 2011 was aimed to provide food security, eradicate hunger and poverty and help improve the nutritional standards of the people.

In 2012 this programme has had tremendous success in all areas especially agriculture, livestock, industrial and in the ﬁsheries sector.
The progrmme has been implemented in all 25 districts and coconut saplings, vegetable seeds, fruit plants herbal plants, minor export crops etc have been distributed to the selected households.

Resources to commence projects such as growing mushrooms, bee keeping, growing ornamental ﬂowers etc have also been provided.

Steps have been taken to promote people to grow certain crops that can be grown in Sri Lanka but is at present being imported from foreign countries.
These crops are green gram, peanuts, dry chillies, soya, maize.

Already Sri Lanka has started exporting maize.

The distribution of chicks and milch cows under this program has helped to improve the nutrition of the family while improving their incomes.

It has been found that milk production can be increased by keeping cows in a restricted area (cowsheds) and feeding them systematically and 5292 cow sheds were constructed for this purpose.
Goat herding has also achieved considerable progress under this program in 2012.

Over 6000 ﬁsheries projects have implemented in the year and as a result fresh ﬁsh is available in the estate sector in Nuwara Eliya district.

It has been reported that estate labourers run to work in their ﬁsh ponds after their routine work instead of going to liquor bars.

Human smuggling was a major concern in the year 2012 with over 2000 being arrested trying to gain illegal entry to Australia.
It was found that people of Sinhala, Tamil and Moor origins were all induced to seek greener pastures and the process was operated by a network whose local agents promoted the innocent people to go on these risky voyages.

However with the Australian Government taking strong action and diverting boats ﬁrst to the Christmas Island and later to Papua New Guinea there seems to be a slowing down of the process.
In society women, children, migrant workers, physically and mentally handicapped and the aged are considered vulnerable groups who are in need of special care and attention.

In the year 2012 though there were many acts of violence against women reported in the media the such acts as a whole did not reach the levels reported in 2011.

However reported cases of violence against migrant women showed a marked increase in the current year.
This resulted in the Ministry of Foreign Employment taking several steps such as raising the age to 25 years in case of domestic employment in certain Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and also requiring the prospective employer to deposit US $ 1000 in respective of each prospective employee before the contract is signed.

The government proposes to completely stop the migration of unskilled female domestic labour in a few years time.
According to the 2012 statistics of the SLFEB the ratio of women to men are 49% to 51%.

Sri Lanka is has failed to ﬁll skilled female job cadres in the Gulf countries such as trained baby sitters, nannies, nurses, sales girls.

Therefore it is time that the government organizes training programs to cater to such job demands though like in the case of nurses there is a reluctance to seek employment in the Middle East.
Sexual exploitation of children keeps rising yearly according to the available statistic at the National Child Protection Authority.

The Authority states that presently people are more aware of acts of abuse due to the awareness programs carried and the publicity given to the hot line and such acts get reported without being unreported as in the earlier days.

Sri Lanka has a fair percentage of persons with physical disability which could be due to the 30 years of internal conﬂict.
These persons too have a right to the full participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

However the restricted access of such persons to public buildings and public transport is a barrier to their enjoyment of the normal life of the community.

The Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act No28 of 1996 and the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 made therein have provided the necessary legal framework for such persons for the equal enjoyment of the life in the society.
A very wide meaning has also been given to the words ‘Public Building/Structure’ in the Regulations as meaning any government or private sector building used by the public in daily life.

Therefore banks, hospitals shopping centres, supermarkets are all included to have accessibility for the disabled.

However even in the city of Colombo one sees banks and well patronized shopping centres today without any accessibility provision for the disabled.
In Sri Lanka there is a remarkable increase in the ageing population with the increasing life expectancy, improving health care facilities and living standards of the people.

Unfortunately this matter has not been addressed by the planners and policy makers as well as those in the health sector.

There are Day Centres for Elders in several areas which are ﬁnancially supported by the National Secretariat for Elders.
The Social Service Department has trained a home day care service available to the public at very reasonable price but this service needs to be improved to cater to the growing demand.

However there are several private retiring homes and day and night care services which are available to persons who are able to pay a high price for the service.
The level of poverty in Sri Lanka has been reduced considerably by schemes such as the Livelihood Development and Economic Empowerment programs under the Divi Neguma and Samurdi Schemes.

Several cottage industries carried out under the Livelihood Development programs of the Divi Neguma, like the production of candles, joss-sticks, cement blocks, virgin coconut oil help the poor to earn additional income.
Loan Facilities to start various livelihood programmes under the Samurdi Scheme has constantly helped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in case of family bereavements, hospitalization and child births.

In 2012 Sri Lankan economy grew at 6.4% only as compared to the two previous years which witnessed a growth rate of 8 %.
The country has achieved many of MDGs including the halving of poverty, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women ahead of the target year 2015 and is striving hard to achieve a per capita income target of US dollars 4000 in 2016.
However the slow implementation of the LLRC Recommendations has become a matter of concern to many as it was hoped that issues which lead to the 30 year ethnic conﬂict would ﬁnd a solution in the implementation of the Recommendation.

As everyone knows it is only in a peaceful environment that fruits of the massive development programmes currently taking place could be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans both present and future.
right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
• The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
oﬃcers purpose • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of persons the country Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.
Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates E) Measures for Negative Social Issues; • Special mechanism should be formulated for considering problems relating to prisoners’ families (for their best interest, specially regarding the children in schooling age), during the time they are at the remand prison.
• The way people respond to competitive economic, social, cultural or other issues can be changed satisfactorily by formulating various steps regarding their initial background (ex: formal and informal education, cultural and social background etc.).

the impeachment process should be more transparent and more in accord with the principles of democracy.
It must be emphasized that the “latimer” commonwealth principles speciﬁcally provide for the procedure to be adopted when charges are brought against a judge and that such charges should necessarily be inquired by an independent body which could be tied up to the impeachment process.

This appears to be a matter which must be the subject of serious debate/discussion.
It is our considered view that public conﬁdence in the legal system could be sustained only within a framework acceptable through intensive discussion.

It must be conceded that presently we have missed this opportunity.

However it must be emphasized that such a procedure must indeed be followed in the future in the interest of society in general in Sri Lanka.
• Suitable steps should be initiated to change the traditional response of the civil society over Disappeared and Missing persons prisoners, as the prisoners too are a part of their own society.

I) Measures for the Issue of Capital Punishment; and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities in the governance of the Chapter Six FOREIGN FUNDED PROJECTS 6.1.
UN Support to National Human Rights Institutions - UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, 2012 The overarching UN support to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) since 2009 has been conducted through a UN Joint programme on Human Rights which began in November 2009.

This project was launched by the UNDP on the request made by government of Sri Lanka, following their commitment given at the 2008 Human Rights Council meeting to support to upgrade the HRCSL back to grade A.
The main objective of the programme was to provide technical and ﬁnancial support to HRCSL.

This support was targeted towards strengthening operational eﬀectiveness in key areas that were identi- ﬁed by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for National Human Rights Institutions as the reasons for the downgrading of the HRCSL from A to B in 2007 and re aﬃrmed in 2009.
The Joint Programme was implemented by HRCSL with their staﬀ through the head oﬃce and regional oﬃces, with funding and technical support from UNDP and the UN Senior Human Rights Advisor.

In 2012 both OHCHR and UNHCR also contributed funds towards the Joint Programme.
In the reporting period of 2012, the UN Joint Programme continued to support the HRCSL in the areas of their core mandate, including: Strategic vision of the HRCSL – A 21-day capacity assessment (CA) of HRCSL was undertaken by a tripartite team comprised of the Asia Paciﬁc Forum, UNDP regional oﬃce and OHCHR through the Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In follow up to this activity, the UN Joint Programme facilitated the HRCSL in the development of a 3-year strategic plan which was based on the CA recommendations, National Human Rights Action Plan and LLRC recommendations and wide consultations with all staﬀ at national and regional levels of HRCSL.

HRCSL developed their 2012 Action Plan based on the outcomes of this workshop which had the participation of all senior staﬀ of HRCSL.
Through regular meetings between UN senior HR advisor and Commissioners and also participation of UNDP project coordinator in the HRCSL’s central committee meetings, UN has taken eﬀort to constantly communicate their perspective on HRCSL’s activities and functions.

Regional Oﬃces – The UN Joint Programme continued to provide support to the regional oﬃces in the form of technical trainings, provision of equipment, and funding to support legal consultants and engagement with civil society.
Through the Joint Programme, UNHCR supported the establishment of a mobile clinic in Kilinochchi in 2012 which is providing outreach to the former war-aﬀected areas of the north where regional oﬃces have not yet been established.
National policy and legislation – The ﬁrst of a planned series of consultations and a study conference to sensitize Members of Parliament on international human rights laws and standards was organized by a project in the Parliament in December 2012 in collaboration with HRCSL, UN and Parliament.

For the ﬁrst time in the history of Parliament, a full day study conference on Human Rights was held within Parliament with 73 Parliament Members taking part.
This was followed by a dialogue on Human Rights among Members of Parliament, HRCSL Commissioners and UN Country Team.

The project is also working with Parliament to establish a HR select committee.

As a ﬁrst step the project organized an exposure visit for Deputy Speaker and another MP to visit and discuss with HR select committee in Parliament of Philippines and the Speaker.
The project provided technical and funding support for HRCSL to hold a series of consultations at regional and national level on elders’ rights and formulate recommendations for UN OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) on elders’ rights and national policy making authorities.

Engagement with Civil Society – The Project continued support for quarterly dialogues/consultations at national and regional levels that are constructive and inclusive of a broad spectrum of civil society actors.
Though the project was able to support only 2 meetings in 2012 at national level, 34 meetings/consultations were supported by project through the 10 regional oﬃces.

Joint action plans with civil society have been developed by 7 of the regional oﬃces as a result of these consultations and are in operation at regional level.
The project supported HRCSL by developing a training module and conducting 10 numbers of 2 day residential trainings for civil society actors, on their request with support from external experts through regional oﬃces.

The project also supported a 2 day residential training for media personnel and another 3 day training for youth on human rights through HRCSL.
Public reporting – The UN Joint Programme has supported the development of a tri-lingual website for HRCSL and the maintenance of such website, publication of their overdue annual reports, provide assistance to prepare press statements and provided support for their press conferences.
National Project Co-ordinator – Ms Thanuja Navaratne 6.2 UNICEF funded Project A special project on the theme “Increase Conﬁdence of Communities in Reporting and responding to Violations of Children’s Rights was funded by the UNICEF on July 25th 2012.

The project covered six districts and the activities on various thematic areas to fulﬁll the above purpose were conducted by the regional coordinators of the HRCSL.

The following programmes were organized for the year 2012.
The Project Coordinator - Ms Shirani Rajapakse Director Education and Special Projects 46 Chapter Seven STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN YEAR 2012 The necessity to lay emphasis on the concept of supremacy of the law n the present context, the need to protect the supremacy of law is important.

For a healthy, democratic society it is necessary for the 3 organs of government to act with respect and understanding towards each other.

This would help to maintain a healthy relationship.
The action taken in the recent past to remove the Chief Justice from her post was strictly in accordance with the law, however the procedure that was followed in achieving this objective has given rise to issues relating to the concept of the independence of the judiciary.

It would appear that there was a conﬂict between the legislature and the judiciary.
This situation necessarily weakened the conﬁdence placed by the people in the legal system and also came into conﬂict with the aspirations of society relating to the independence and impartiality of these institutions in their day to day work.

This situation has given rise to creating doubts among the people on the question whether the judiciary was capable of acting independently and also whether other institutions are prone to act in such a manner so as to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
The necessity to consider the impeachment of the Chief Justice provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the shortcomings in this regard under the prevailing law, to take steps to rectify such a situation and to introduce a policy in this matter which would necessarily strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

However unfortunately this situation far from achieving this objective highlighted the prevailing policy on this matter between the Judiciary and the State.
This situation also provided a good opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their powers and attract the attention of the public to their own selﬁsh objectives.

As a consequence this golden opportunity to highlight democratic values was lost and an unhealthy situation arose from the point of view of society.
Further, it is imperative that the judiciary of this country must be given every opportunity to maintain its independence at the highest level possible and in this regard it is our considered view that the present law must necessarily be amended with a view to strengthening the concept of judicial independence.

It is indeed essential to ensure that the judiciary is vested with an environment to act without fear and suspicion.
It is our considered view that the procedure to remove a judicial oﬃcer must necessarily be transparent and also be in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice.

It is fairly clear that the present procedure adopted for the purpose of removing a judge and A march by women protesting of missing loved ones was organized jointly by the Committee for Investigating Disappearances and the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.
About 25 women mainly from the North and East took part in this symbolic march along the streets from a Hindu Kovil in Kochchikade to another Hindu Kovil in Gintupitiya.

They carried clay pots with camphor ﬁre in keeping with cultural traditions.

The women prayed and pleaded for information about their husbands, fathers and sons who had gone missing.

Some are known to have been abducted in white vans.

Extra-judicial arrests and abductions are unacceptable in a democracy.
The LLRC Report had also stated “that in many instances it was revealed that formal complaints had been made to police stations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the ICRC.

Yet the next of kin continue to complain that the where about of many of these missing persons are still unknown.

The government is duty bound to direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and perpetrators brought to justice.
It is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of any person who is taken into custody by governmental authorities through surrender or arrest.

Comment The Government has come up with a number of policies and action plans that include the National Policy on Social Integration, and the National Human Rights Action Plan on implementing the recommendation of the LLRC.

The National Action Plan on the LLRC recommendations has to be implemented with sincerity.
Implementing these recommendations would go a long way towards promoting national unity and peace.

The government must ignore chauvinistic and extreme nationalist elements within and without and go ahead to usher in an era of peace, stability and growth in the country.

Most importantly, the rule of law must be protected and there should not be any place for vindictiveness and revenge.
Sri Lanka has existed as a social welfare state even before it attained independence in 1948 as successive governments in the country had adopted social welfare measures in the administration of the country.
This could be attributed to movements like the Suriya Mal campaigns that were originally started to provide for the betterment of the underprivileged classes of the society in the mid 1930 s. Therefore today though no legislation has been passed by the Parliament to give legal eﬀect to the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights unlike in the case of civil and political rights which are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in Chapter III of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution provide for the implementation of social welfare measures for the beneﬁt of the people.
Thus these Principles state that the legislature and the executive shall be guided by the objective of promotion of social and economic welfare of the people by securing an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions country.

During the year 2012 the massive infrastructure development of the country that was started after the cessation of the internal conﬂict in 2009 continued.
In Sri Lanka 80% of the people still live in villages and in plantation areas.

Therefore the road networks, power, water, irrigation, schools, maternal clinics have been included in the Gama Neguma village development programme.
In the year 2012 a program was also launched where Rs one million was given to construct / develop any one project in each village in the island under the scheme ‘ Gamakata eke wedakka’ (one project for one village) It was found that when mega development projects were carried out in various parts of the country there were a number of small towns which were striving hard to keep pace with the development drive taking place in other parts of the country.
Therefore a program to develop 108 small towns that come under underdeveloped Pradeshiya Sabhas across the country was launched under the name ‘Pura Neguma’ this year to be completede by the year 1015.
Under this programme the respective Pradeshiya Sabhas have to develop the infrastructure facilities in these towns such as public toilets, vehicle parks including three wheel parks, market complexes, weekly fair areas, Pradeshiya Sabha buildings, libraries, childrens parks, access roads, drinking water and resting places.
Pura Neguma is implemnted in the Pradeshiya Sabhas outside the North and East as the Economic Development Ministry is launching programs in those areas focusing on the same matters Urban development gained a high momentum in the year 2012 as many projects that improved the quality of urban environment were initiated and completed.

The objective of these developments is to provide a holistic living and a working environment for the country.
Therefore public utilities, recreational facilities and urban beautiﬁcation programmes were given much importance in the year with emphasis being placed on Colombo and its suburbs.

During this year several lower middle class housing condominiums that had been constructed over 30 years ago and were in dilapidated conditions were renovated beneﬁting more than 18,000 dwellers.

The upgrading of non-permanent residences under NHDA Programs which started a few years ago continued during the year 2012.
Several luxury housing complexes are also being constructed for high income earners by the private sector with foreign collaboration.

A number of housing schemes have been launched in the North and the East to ﬁnd permanent housing for displaced persons.

In the North special loans under a foreign funded project were given to displaced families and the construction of houses was done through a participatory approach, thus enhancing the resettlement eﬀorts of the government.
With urbanization and change of lifestyle of the people the demand for pipe born water is also rising in all cities.

All people have to be provided with clean drinking water and in drawing up plans for the development of towns and cities the provision of for rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities have been made compulsory The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is 90.8% as primary and secondary education has been free and compulsory for over 40 years.
Even university education is free in the state universities.

The state policy is to teach both Sinhala and Tamil in schools thus promoting ethnic harmony from the young days.

However the lack of qualiﬁed teachers for this project is causing problems at present.

Emphasis is also placed on teaching English and computer education in schools.

In 2012 a project to develop 1000 secondary schools across the island was launched.
The Ministry of Education entered into several joint ventures with the private sector to improve the IT knowledge of students in these schools.

Thus in one venture with The State Trading Corporation and the Etiselat Company, one thousand laptops with internet facilities were provided, the main objective of venture being to provide school children with subject knowledge via internet from teachers approved by the National Institute of Education.
In another venture with Intel Sri Lanka the teachers in schools who had been already trained by Intel Sri Lanka, were being helped to integrate ICT into their lessons and empower the students to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

The continued work stoppage activities of the University teachers hindered the studies of students.
The severe lack of accommodation in state universities as only 22,000 of the 150,000 students who get qualiﬁed for admission are unable to secure placement in the universities remains unsolved.

In addition the Universities are faced with the admission of a further 5800 students due to the Z score issue.
The government has stated very categorically that state universities will not be privatized but is agreeable to recognize quality private education in Sri Lanka so that the ﬂow of foreign exchange out of the country could be saved.

Thus the private medical college at Malabe continues with a new teaching Hospital as the students were unable to get the required training in state hospitals due to objection by the doctors union.
Only 29% of the Arts graduates are employed compared to 95% Engineering graduates and 90% of MBBS graduates who have secured employment.

Therefore a proposal to change the composition of the BA degree subjects with emphasis on languages like Sinhala, Tamil and English is being studied.

Life expectancy of Sri Lankan women and men has increased to 80 and 76 years respectively, thus reﬂecting an improvement in the health care services and living standards of the people.
In Sri Lanka State hospitals and health clinics are free and accessible to all persons including even foreigners.

There are 593 government hospitals in the island with 73,437 beds .

A recent survey has revealed that 20% 3 of hospital beds are occupied by patients fallen ill due to use of tobacco and alcohol and 72% of illnesses in the country are NCDs which are mainly related to tobacco and alcohol.
The attempt to have a warning against smoking in picture form so that it will be a more eﬀective than the already existing written warning on the box of cigarettes was heavily opposed by the cigarette dealers who have taken the matter to courts and the Health Ministry is awaiting a decision by the courts.

There is an alarming increase of Non Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, cardio vascular diseases, strokes etc.
The major risk factors for NCDs are considered unhealthy dietary habits, job stress, physical inactivity.

Therefore the Ministry of Health has been actively engaged in the promotion of an awareness campaign of the value of eating proper food and exercise for a healthy life among school children, youth and the general public.

Communicable diseases such as dengue, ﬁllaria and recently malaria which was almost eradicated a few years back also still remain a public concern.
In September 2012 Jaﬀna peninsula was connected to the national grid after 25 years.

The Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Plant was added to the national grid during the current year.

The steps are also taken to construct over 100 mini hydro power projects with the aim of making the national grid a system where electricity is provided by the public.

Already the private sector operates around 100 mini hydro power projects in the country.
Construction works of the second phase of Norochcholai and the new coal plant at Sampur are in progress.

As the cost of electricity has been going up yearly, the search alternative energy sources such as solar power, sea waves, wind and nano technology related energy continues.

Already 74 MW wind power,11.5 MW biomass energy and 1.4 MW solar is connected to the national grid4 .
The ﬁrst Dendro (gliricidia) energy power plant situated at Anuradhapura, began feeding 500 KW to the national grid in July 2012 The“ Divi Neguma” National Program that was launched in March 2011 was aimed to provide food security, eradicate hunger and poverty and help improve the nutritional standards of the people.

In 2012 this programme has had tremendous success in all areas especially agriculture, livestock, industrial and in the ﬁsheries sector.
The progrmme has been implemented in all 25 districts and coconut saplings, vegetable seeds, fruit plants herbal plants, minor export crops etc have been distributed to the selected households.

Resources to commence projects such as growing mushrooms, bee keeping, growing ornamental ﬂowers etc have also been provided.

Steps have been taken to promote people to grow certain crops that can be grown in Sri Lanka but is at present being imported from foreign countries.
These crops are green gram, peanuts, dry chillies, soya, maize.

Already Sri Lanka has started exporting maize.

The distribution of chicks and milch cows under this program has helped to improve the nutrition of the family while improving their incomes.

It has been found that milk production can be increased by keeping cows in a restricted area (cowsheds) and feeding them systematically and 5292 cow sheds were constructed for this purpose.
Goat herding has also achieved considerable progress under this program in 2012.

Over 6000 ﬁsheries projects have implemented in the year and as a result fresh ﬁsh is available in the estate sector in Nuwara Eliya district.

It has been reported that estate labourers run to work in their ﬁsh ponds after their routine work instead of going to liquor bars.

Human smuggling was a major concern in the year 2012 with over 2000 being arrested trying to gain illegal entry to Australia.
It was found that people of Sinhala, Tamil and Moor origins were all induced to seek greener pastures and the process was operated by a network whose local agents promoted the innocent people to go on these risky voyages.

However with the Australian Government taking strong action and diverting boats ﬁrst to the Christmas Island and later to Papua New Guinea there seems to be a slowing down of the process.
In society women, children, migrant workers, physically and mentally handicapped and the aged are considered vulnerable groups who are in need of special care and attention.

In the year 2012 though there were many acts of violence against women reported in the media the such acts as a whole did not reach the levels reported in 2011.

However reported cases of violence against migrant women showed a marked increase in the current year.
This resulted in the Ministry of Foreign Employment taking several steps such as raising the age to 25 years in case of domestic employment in certain Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and also requiring the prospective employer to deposit US $ 1000 in respective of each prospective employee before the contract is signed.

The government proposes to completely stop the migration of unskilled female domestic labour in a few years time.
According to the 2012 statistics of the SLFEB the ratio of women to men are 49% to 51%.

Sri Lanka is has failed to ﬁll skilled female job cadres in the Gulf countries such as trained baby sitters, nannies, nurses, sales girls.

Therefore it is time that the government organizes training programs to cater to such job demands though like in the case of nurses there is a reluctance to seek employment in the Middle East.
Sexual exploitation of children keeps rising yearly according to the available statistic at the National Child Protection Authority.

The Authority states that presently people are more aware of acts of abuse due to the awareness programs carried and the publicity given to the hot line and such acts get reported without being unreported as in the earlier days.

Sri Lanka has a fair percentage of persons with physical disability which could be due to the 30 years of internal conﬂict.
These persons too have a right to the full participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

However the restricted access of such persons to public buildings and public transport is a barrier to their enjoyment of the normal life of the community.

The Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act No28 of 1996 and the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 made therein have provided the necessary legal framework for such persons for the equal enjoyment of the life in the society.
A very wide meaning has also been given to the words ‘Public Building/Structure’ in the Regulations as meaning any government or private sector building used by the public in daily life.

Therefore banks, hospitals shopping centres, supermarkets are all included to have accessibility for the disabled.

However even in the city of Colombo one sees banks and well patronized shopping centres today without any accessibility provision for the disabled.
In Sri Lanka there is a remarkable increase in the ageing population with the increasing life expectancy, improving health care facilities and living standards of the people.

Unfortunately this matter has not been addressed by the planners and policy makers as well as those in the health sector.

There are Day Centres for Elders in several areas which are ﬁnancially supported by the National Secretariat for Elders.
The Social Service Department has trained a home day care service available to the public at very reasonable price but this service needs to be improved to cater to the growing demand.

However there are several private retiring homes and day and night care services which are available to persons who are able to pay a high price for the service.
The level of poverty in Sri Lanka has been reduced considerably by schemes such as the Livelihood Development and Economic Empowerment programs under the Divi Neguma and Samurdi Schemes.

Several cottage industries carried out under the Livelihood Development programs of the Divi Neguma, like the production of candles, joss-sticks, cement blocks, virgin coconut oil help the poor to earn additional income.
Loan Facilities to start various livelihood programmes under the Samurdi Scheme has constantly helped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in case of family bereavements, hospitalization and child births.

In 2012 Sri Lankan economy grew at 6.4% only as compared to the two previous years which witnessed a growth rate of 8 %.
The country has achieved many of MDGs including the halving of poverty, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women ahead of the target year 2015 and is striving hard to achieve a per capita income target of US dollars 4000 in 2016.
However the slow implementation of the LLRC Recommendations has become a matter of concern to many as it was hoped that issues which lead to the 30 year ethnic conﬂict would ﬁnd a solution in the implementation of the Recommendation.

As everyone knows it is only in a peaceful environment that fruits of the massive development programmes currently taking place could be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans both present and future.
right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
• The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
oﬃcers purpose • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of persons the country Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.
Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates E) Measures for Negative Social Issues; • Special mechanism should be formulated for considering problems relating to prisoners’ families (for their best interest, specially regarding the children in schooling age), during the time they are at the remand prison.
• The way people respond to competitive economic, social, cultural or other issues can be changed satisfactorily by formulating various steps regarding their initial background (ex: formal and informal education, cultural and social background etc.).

the impeachment process should be more transparent and more in accord with the principles of democracy.
It must be emphasized that the “latimer” commonwealth principles speciﬁcally provide for the procedure to be adopted when charges are brought against a judge and that such charges should necessarily be inquired by an independent body which could be tied up to the impeachment process.

This appears to be a matter which must be the subject of serious debate/discussion.
It is our considered view that public conﬁdence in the legal system could be sustained only within a framework acceptable through intensive discussion.

It must be conceded that presently we have missed this opportunity.

However it must be emphasized that such a procedure must indeed be followed in the future in the interest of society in general in Sri Lanka.
• Suitable steps should be initiated to change the traditional response of the civil society over Disappeared and Missing persons prisoners, as the prisoners too are a part of their own society.

I) Measures for the Issue of Capital Punishment; and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities in the governance of the Chapter Six FOREIGN FUNDED PROJECTS 6.1.
UN Support to National Human Rights Institutions - UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, 2012 The overarching UN support to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) since 2009 has been conducted through a UN Joint programme on Human Rights which began in November 2009.

This project was launched by the UNDP on the request made by government of Sri Lanka, following their commitment given at the 2008 Human Rights Council meeting to support to upgrade the HRCSL back to grade A.
The main objective of the programme was to provide technical and ﬁnancial support to HRCSL.

This support was targeted towards strengthening operational eﬀectiveness in key areas that were identi- ﬁed by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for National Human Rights Institutions as the reasons for the downgrading of the HRCSL from A to B in 2007 and re aﬃrmed in 2009.
The Joint Programme was implemented by HRCSL with their staﬀ through the head oﬃce and regional oﬃces, with funding and technical support from UNDP and the UN Senior Human Rights Advisor.

In 2012 both OHCHR and UNHCR also contributed funds towards the Joint Programme.
In the reporting period of 2012, the UN Joint Programme continued to support the HRCSL in the areas of their core mandate, including: Strategic vision of the HRCSL – A 21-day capacity assessment (CA) of HRCSL was undertaken by a tripartite team comprised of the Asia Paciﬁc Forum, UNDP regional oﬃce and OHCHR through the Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In follow up to this activity, the UN Joint Programme facilitated the HRCSL in the development of a 3-year strategic plan which was based on the CA recommendations, National Human Rights Action Plan and LLRC recommendations and wide consultations with all staﬀ at national and regional levels of HRCSL.

HRCSL developed their 2012 Action Plan based on the outcomes of this workshop which had the participation of all senior staﬀ of HRCSL.
Through regular meetings between UN senior HR advisor and Commissioners and also participation of UNDP project coordinator in the HRCSL’s central committee meetings, UN has taken eﬀort to constantly communicate their perspective on HRCSL’s activities and functions.

Regional Oﬃces – The UN Joint Programme continued to provide support to the regional oﬃces in the form of technical trainings, provision of equipment, and funding to support legal consultants and engagement with civil society.
Through the Joint Programme, UNHCR supported the establishment of a mobile clinic in Kilinochchi in 2012 which is providing outreach to the former war-aﬀected areas of the north where regional oﬃces have not yet been established.
National policy and legislation – The ﬁrst of a planned series of consultations and a study conference to sensitize Members of Parliament on international human rights laws and standards was organized by a project in the Parliament in December 2012 in collaboration with HRCSL, UN and Parliament.

For the ﬁrst time in the history of Parliament, a full day study conference on Human Rights was held within Parliament with 73 Parliament Members taking part.
This was followed by a dialogue on Human Rights among Members of Parliament, HRCSL Commissioners and UN Country Team.

The project is also working with Parliament to establish a HR select committee.

As a ﬁrst step the project organized an exposure visit for Deputy Speaker and another MP to visit and discuss with HR select committee in Parliament of Philippines and the Speaker.
The project provided technical and funding support for HRCSL to hold a series of consultations at regional and national level on elders’ rights and formulate recommendations for UN OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) on elders’ rights and national policy making authorities.

Engagement with Civil Society – The Project continued support for quarterly dialogues/consultations at national and regional levels that are constructive and inclusive of a broad spectrum of civil society actors.
Though the project was able to support only 2 meetings in 2012 at national level, 34 meetings/consultations were supported by project through the 10 regional oﬃces.

Joint action plans with civil society have been developed by 7 of the regional oﬃces as a result of these consultations and are in operation at regional level.
The project supported HRCSL by developing a training module and conducting 10 numbers of 2 day residential trainings for civil society actors, on their request with support from external experts through regional oﬃces.

The project also supported a 2 day residential training for media personnel and another 3 day training for youth on human rights through HRCSL.
Public reporting – The UN Joint Programme has supported the development of a tri-lingual website for HRCSL and the maintenance of such website, publication of their overdue annual reports, provide assistance to prepare press statements and provided support for their press conferences.
National Project Co-ordinator – Ms Thanuja Navaratne 6.2 UNICEF funded Project A special project on the theme “Increase Conﬁdence of Communities in Reporting and responding to Violations of Children’s Rights was funded by the UNICEF on July 25th 2012.

The project covered six districts and the activities on various thematic areas to fulﬁll the above purpose were conducted by the regional coordinators of the HRCSL.

The following programmes were organized for the year 2012.
The Project Coordinator - Ms Shirani Rajapakse Director Education and Special Projects Chapter Seven STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN YEAR 2012 The necessity to lay emphasis on the concept of supremacy of the law I n the present context, the need to protect the supremacy of law is important.

For a healthy, democratic society it is necessary for the 3 organs of government to act with respect and understanding towards each other.

This would help to maintain a healthy relationship.
The action taken in the recent past to remove the Chief Justice from her post was strictly in accordance with the law, however the procedure that was followed in achieving this objective has given rise to issues relating to the concept of the independence of the judiciary.

It would appear that there was a conﬂict between the legislature and the judiciary.
This situation necessarily weakened the conﬁdence placed by the people in the legal system and also came into conﬂict with the aspirations of society relating to the independence and impartiality of these institutions in their day to day work.

This situation has given rise to creating doubts among the people on the question whether the judiciary was capable of acting independently and also whether other institutions are prone to act in such a manner so as to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
The necessity to consider the impeachment of the Chief Justice provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the shortcomings in this regard under the prevailing law, to take steps to rectify such a situation and to introduce a policy in this matter which would necessarily strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

However unfortunately this situation far from achieving this objective highlighted the prevailing policy on this matter between the Judiciary and the State.
This situation also provided a good opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their powers and attract the attention of the public to their own selﬁsh objectives.

As a consequence this golden opportunity to highlight democratic values was lost and an unhealthy situation arose from the point of view of society.
Further, it is imperative that the judiciary of this country must be given every opportunity to maintain its independence at the highest level possible and in this regard it is our considered view that the present law must necessarily be amended with a view to strengthening the concept of judicial independence.

It is indeed essential to ensure that the judiciary is vested with an environment to act without fear and suspicion.
It is our considered view that the procedure to remove a judicial oﬃcer must necessarily be transparent and also be in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice.

It is fairly clear that the present procedure adopted for the purpose of removing a judge and 47 A march by women protesting of missing loved ones was organized jointly by the Committee for Investigating Disappearances and the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.
About 25 women mainly from the North and East took part in this symbolic march along the streets from a Hindu Kovil in Kochchikade to another Hindu Kovil in Gintupitiya.

They carried clay pots with camphor ﬁre in keeping with cultural traditions.

The women prayed and pleaded for information about their husbands, fathers and sons who had gone missing.

Some are known to have been abducted in white vans.

Extra-judicial arrests and abductions are unacceptable in a democracy.
The LLRC Report had also stated “that in many instances it was revealed that formal complaints had been made to police stations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the ICRC.

Yet the next of kin continue to complain that the where about of many of these missing persons are still unknown.

The government is duty bound to direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and perpetrators brought to justice.
It is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of any person who is taken into custody by governmental authorities through surrender or arrest.

Comment The Government has come up with a number of policies and action plans that include the National Policy on Social Integration, and the National Human Rights Action Plan on implementing the recommendation of the LLRC.

The National Action Plan on the LLRC recommendations has to be implemented with sincerity.
Implementing these recommendations would go a long way towards promoting national unity and peace.

The government must ignore chauvinistic and extreme nationalist elements within and without and go ahead to usher in an era of peace, stability and growth in the country.

Most importantly, the rule of law must be protected and there should not be any place for vindictiveness and revenge.
Sri Lanka has existed as a social welfare state even before it attained independence in 1948 as successive governments in the country had adopted social welfare measures in the administration of the country.
This could be attributed to movements like the Suriya Mal campaigns that were originally started to provide for the betterment of the underprivileged classes of the society in the mid 1930 s. Therefore today though no legislation has been passed by the Parliament to give legal eﬀect to the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights unlike in the case of civil and political rights which are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in Chapter III of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution provide for the implementation of social welfare measures for the beneﬁt of the people.
Thus these Principles state that the legislature and the executive shall be guided by the objective of promotion of social and economic welfare of the people by securing an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions country.

During the year 2012 the massive infrastructure development of the country that was started after the cessation of the internal conﬂict in 2009 continued.
In Sri Lanka 80% of the people still live in villages and in plantation areas.

Therefore the road networks, power, water, irrigation, schools, maternal clinics have been included in the Gama Neguma village development programme.
In the year 2012 a program was also launched where Rs one million was given to construct / develop any one project in each village in the island under the scheme ‘ Gamakata eke wedakka’ (one project for one village) It was found that when mega development projects were carried out in various parts of the country there were a number of small towns which were striving hard to keep pace with the development drive taking place in other parts of the country.
Therefore a program to develop 108 small towns that come under underdeveloped Pradeshiya Sabhas across the country was launched under the name ‘Pura Neguma’ this year to be completede by the year 1015.
Under this programme the respective Pradeshiya Sabhas have to develop the infrastructure facilities in these towns such as public toilets, vehicle parks including three wheel parks, market complexes, weekly fair areas, Pradeshiya Sabha buildings, libraries, childrens parks, access roads, drinking water and resting places.
Pura Neguma is implemnted in the Pradeshiya Sabhas outside the North and East as the Economic Development Ministry is launching programs in those areas focusing on the same matters Urban development gained a high momentum in the year 2012 as many projects that improved the quality of urban environment were initiated and completed.

The objective of these developments is to provide a holistic living and a working environment for the country.
Therefore public utilities, recreational facilities and urban beautiﬁcation programmes were given much importance in the year with emphasis being placed on Colombo and its suburbs.

During this year several lower middle class housing condominiums that had been constructed over 30 years ago and were in dilapidated conditions were renovated beneﬁting more than 18,000 dwellers.

The upgrading of non-permanent residences under NHDA Programs which started a few years ago continued during the year 2012.
Several luxury housing complexes are also being constructed for high income earners by the private sector with foreign collaboration.

A number of housing schemes have been launched in the North and the East to ﬁnd permanent housing for displaced persons.

In the North special loans under a foreign funded project were given to displaced families and the construction of houses was done through a participatory approach, thus enhancing the resettlement eﬀorts of the government.
With urbanization and change of lifestyle of the people the demand for pipe born water is also rising in all cities.

All people have to be provided with clean drinking water and in drawing up plans for the development of towns and cities the provision of for rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities have been made compulsory The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is 90.8% as primary and secondary education has been free and compulsory for over 40 years.
Even university education is free in the state universities.

The state policy is to teach both Sinhala and Tamil in schools thus promoting ethnic harmony from the young days.

However the lack of qualiﬁed teachers for this project is causing problems at present.

Emphasis is also placed on teaching English and computer education in schools.

In 2012 a project to develop 1000 secondary schools across the island was launched.
The Ministry of Education entered into several joint ventures with the private sector to improve the IT knowledge of students in these schools.

Thus in one venture with The State Trading Corporation and the Etiselat Company, one thousand laptops with internet facilities were provided, the main objective of venture being to provide school children with subject knowledge via internet from teachers approved by the National Institute of Education.
In another venture with Intel Sri Lanka the teachers in schools who had been already trained by Intel Sri Lanka, were being helped to integrate ICT into their lessons and empower the students to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

The continued work stoppage activities of the University teachers hindered the studies of students.
The severe lack of accommodation in state universities as only 22,000 of the 150,000 students who get qualiﬁed for admission are unable to secure placement in the universities remains unsolved.

In addition the Universities are faced with the admission of a further 5800 students due to the Z score issue.
The government has stated very categorically that state universities will not be privatized but is agreeable to recognize quality private education in Sri Lanka so that the ﬂow of foreign exchange out of the country could be saved.

Thus the private medical college at Malabe continues with a new teaching Hospital as the students were unable to get the required training in state hospitals due to objection by the doctors union.
Only 29% of the Arts graduates are employed compared to 95% Engineering graduates and 90% of MBBS graduates who have secured employment.

Therefore a proposal to change the composition of the BA degree subjects with emphasis on languages like Sinhala, Tamil and English is being studied.

Life expectancy of Sri Lankan women and men has increased to 80 and 76 years respectively, thus reﬂecting an improvement in the health care services and living standards of the people.
In Sri Lanka State hospitals and health clinics are free and accessible to all persons including even foreigners.

There are 593 government hospitals in the island with 73,437 beds .

A recent survey has revealed that 20% 3 of hospital beds are occupied by patients fallen ill due to use of tobacco and alcohol and 72% of illnesses in the country are NCDs which are mainly related to tobacco and alcohol.
The attempt to have a warning against smoking in picture form so that it will be a more eﬀective than the already existing written warning on the box of cigarettes was heavily opposed by the cigarette dealers who have taken the matter to courts and the Health Ministry is awaiting a decision by the courts.

There is an alarming increase of Non Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, cardio vascular diseases, strokes etc.
The major risk factors for NCDs are considered unhealthy dietary habits, job stress, physical inactivity.

Therefore the Ministry of Health has been actively engaged in the promotion of an awareness campaign of the value of eating proper food and exercise for a healthy life among school children, youth and the general public.

Communicable diseases such as dengue, ﬁllaria and recently malaria which was almost eradicated a few years back also still remain a public concern.
In September 2012 Jaﬀna peninsula was connected to the national grid after 25 years.

The Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Plant was added to the national grid during the current year.

The steps are also taken to construct over 100 mini hydro power projects with the aim of making the national grid a system where electricity is provided by the public.

Already the private sector operates around 100 mini hydro power projects in the country.
Construction works of the second phase of Norochcholai and the new coal plant at Sampur are in progress.

As the cost of electricity has been going up yearly, the search alternative energy sources such as solar power, sea waves, wind and nano technology related energy continues.

Already 74 MW wind power,11.5 MW biomass energy and 1.4 MW solar is connected to the national grid4 .
The ﬁrst Dendro (gliricidia) energy power plant situated at Anuradhapura, began feeding 500 KW to the national grid in July 2012 The“ Divi Neguma” National Program that was launched in March 2011 was aimed to provide food security, eradicate hunger and poverty and help improve the nutritional standards of the people.

In 2012 this programme has had tremendous success in all areas especially agriculture, livestock, industrial and in the ﬁsheries sector.
The progrmme has been implemented in all 25 districts and coconut saplings, vegetable seeds, fruit plants herbal plants, minor export crops etc have been distributed to the selected households.

Resources to commence projects such as growing mushrooms, bee keeping, growing ornamental ﬂowers etc have also been provided.

Steps have been taken to promote people to grow certain crops that can be grown in Sri Lanka but is at present being imported from foreign countries.
These crops are green gram, peanuts, dry chillies, soya, maize.

Already Sri Lanka has started exporting maize.

The distribution of chicks and milch cows under this program has helped to improve the nutrition of the family while improving their incomes.

It has been found that milk production can be increased by keeping cows in a restricted area (cowsheds) and feeding them systematically and 5292 cow sheds were constructed for this purpose.
Goat herding has also achieved considerable progress under this program in 2012.

Over 6000 ﬁsheries projects have implemented in the year and as a result fresh ﬁsh is available in the estate sector in Nuwara Eliya district.

It has been reported that estate labourers run to work in their ﬁsh ponds after their routine work instead of going to liquor bars.

Human smuggling was a major concern in the year 2012 with over 2000 being arrested trying to gain illegal entry to Australia.
It was found that people of Sinhala, Tamil and Moor origins were all induced to seek greener pastures and the process was operated by a network whose local agents promoted the innocent people to go on these risky voyages.

However with the Australian Government taking strong action and diverting boats ﬁrst to the Christmas Island and later to Papua New Guinea there seems to be a slowing down of the process.
In society women, children, migrant workers, physically and mentally handicapped and the aged are considered vulnerable groups who are in need of special care and attention.

In the year 2012 though there were many acts of violence against women reported in the media the such acts as a whole did not reach the levels reported in 2011.

However reported cases of violence against migrant women showed a marked increase in the current year.
This resulted in the Ministry of Foreign Employment taking several steps such as raising the age to 25 years in case of domestic employment in certain Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and also requiring the prospective employer to deposit US $ 1000 in respective of each prospective employee before the contract is signed.

The government proposes to completely stop the migration of unskilled female domestic labour in a few years time.
According to the 2012 statistics of the SLFEB the ratio of women to men are 49% to 51%.

Sri Lanka is has failed to ﬁll skilled female job cadres in the Gulf countries such as trained baby sitters, nannies, nurses, sales girls.

Therefore it is time that the government organizes training programs to cater to such job demands though like in the case of nurses there is a reluctance to seek employment in the Middle East.
Sexual exploitation of children keeps rising yearly according to the available statistic at the National Child Protection Authority.

The Authority states that presently people are more aware of acts of abuse due to the awareness programs carried and the publicity given to the hot line and such acts get reported without being unreported as in the earlier days.

Sri Lanka has a fair percentage of persons with physical disability which could be due to the 30 years of internal conﬂict.
These persons too have a right to the full participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

However the restricted access of such persons to public buildings and public transport is a barrier to their enjoyment of the normal life of the community.

The Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act No28 of 1996 and the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 made therein have provided the necessary legal framework for such persons for the equal enjoyment of the life in the society.
A very wide meaning has also been given to the words ‘Public Building/Structure’ in the Regulations as meaning any government or private sector building used by the public in daily life.

Therefore banks, hospitals shopping centres, supermarkets are all included to have accessibility for the disabled.

However even in the city of Colombo one sees banks and well patronized shopping centres today without any accessibility provision for the disabled.
In Sri Lanka there is a remarkable increase in the ageing population with the increasing life expectancy, improving health care facilities and living standards of the people.

Unfortunately this matter has not been addressed by the planners and policy makers as well as those in the health sector.

There are Day Centres for Elders in several areas which are ﬁnancially supported by the National Secretariat for Elders.
The Social Service Department has trained a home day care service available to the public at very reasonable price but this service needs to be improved to cater to the growing demand.

However there are several private retiring homes and day and night care services which are available to persons who are able to pay a high price for the service.
The level of poverty in Sri Lanka has been reduced considerably by schemes such as the Livelihood Development and Economic Empowerment programs under the Divi Neguma and Samurdi Schemes.

Several cottage industries carried out under the Livelihood Development programs of the Divi Neguma, like the production of candles, joss-sticks, cement blocks, virgin coconut oil help the poor to earn additional income.
Loan Facilities to start various livelihood programmes under the Samurdi Scheme has constantly helped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in case of family bereavements, hospitalization and child births.

In 2012 Sri Lankan economy grew at 6.4% only as compared to the two previous years which witnessed a growth rate of 8 %.
The country has achieved many of MDGs including the halving of poverty, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women ahead of the target year 2015 and is striving hard to achieve a per capita income target of US dollars 4000 in 2016.
However the slow implementation of the LLRC Recommendations has become a matter of concern to many as it was hoped that issues which lead to the 30 year ethnic conﬂict would ﬁnd a solution in the implementation of the Recommendation.

As everyone knows it is only in a peaceful environment that fruits of the massive development programmes currently taking place could be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans both present and future.
right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
• The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
oﬃcers purpose • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of persons the country Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.

Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates Chapter Six FOREIGN FUNDED PROJECTS 6.1.
UN Support to National Human Rights Institutions - UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, 2012 The overarching UN support to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) since 2009 has been conducted through a UN Joint programme on Human Rights which began in November 2009.

This project was launched by the UNDP on the request made by government of Sri Lanka, following their commitment given at the 2008 Human Rights Council meeting to support to upgrade the HRCSL back to grade A.
The main objective of the programme was to provide technical and ﬁnancial support to HRCSL.

This support was targeted towards strengthening operational eﬀectiveness in key areas that were identi- ﬁed by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for National Human Rights Institutions as the reasons for the downgrading of the HRCSL from A to B in 2007 and re aﬃrmed in 2009.
The Joint Programme was implemented by HRCSL with their staﬀ through the head oﬃce and regional oﬃces, with funding and technical support from UNDP and the UN Senior Human Rights Advisor.

In 2012 both OHCHR and UNHCR also contributed funds towards the Joint Programme.
In the reporting period of 2012, the UN Joint Programme continued to support the HRCSL in the areas of their core mandate, including: Strategic vision of the HRCSL – A 21-day capacity assessment (CA) of HRCSL was undertaken by a tripartite team comprised of the Asia Paciﬁc Forum, UNDP regional oﬃce and OHCHR through the Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In follow up to this activity, the UN Joint Programme facilitated the HRCSL in the development of a 3-year strategic plan which was based on the CA recommendations, National Human Rights Action Plan and LLRC recommendations and wide consultations with all staﬀ at national and regional levels of HRCSL.

HRCSL developed their 2012 Action Plan based on the outcomes of this workshop which had the participation of all senior staﬀ of HRCSL.
Through regular meetings between UN senior HR advisor and Commissioners and also participation of UNDP project coordinator in the HRCSL’s central committee meetings, UN has taken eﬀort to constantly communicate their perspective on HRCSL’s activities and functions.

Regional Oﬃces – The UN Joint Programme continued to provide support to the regional oﬃces in the form of technical trainings, provision of equipment, and funding to support legal consultants and engagement with civil society.
Through the Joint Programme, UNHCR supported the establishment of a mobile clinic in Kilinochchi in 2012 which is providing outreach to the former war-aﬀected areas of the north where regional oﬃces have not yet been established.
National policy and legislation – The ﬁrst of a planned series of consultations and a study conference to sensitize Members of Parliament on international human rights laws and standards was organized by a project in the Parliament in December 2012 in collaboration with HRCSL, UN and Parliament.

For the ﬁrst time in the history of Parliament, a full day study conference on Human Rights was held within Parliament with 73 Parliament Members taking part.
This was followed by a dialogue on Human Rights among Members of Parliament, HRCSL Commissioners and UN Country Team.

The project is also working with Parliament to establish a HR select committee.

As a ﬁrst step the project organized an exposure visit for Deputy Speaker and another MP to visit and discuss with HR select committee in Parliament of Philippines and the Speaker.
The project provided technical and funding support for HRCSL to hold a series of consultations at regional and national level on elders’ rights and formulate recommendations for UN OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) on elders’ rights and national policy making authorities.

Engagement with Civil Society – The Project continued support for quarterly dialogues/consultations at national and regional levels that are constructive and inclusive of a broad spectrum of civil society actors.
Though the project was able to support only 2 meetings in 2012 at national level, 34 meetings/consultations were supported by project through the 10 regional oﬃces.

Joint action plans with civil society have been developed by 7 of the regional oﬃces as a result of these consultations and are in operation at regional level.
The project supported HRCSL by developing a training module and conducting 10 numbers of 2 day residential trainings for civil society actors, on their request with support from external experts through regional oﬃces.

The project also supported a 2 day residential training for media personnel and another 3 day training for youth on human rights through HRCSL.
Public reporting – The UN Joint Programme has supported the development of a tri-lingual website for HRCSL and the maintenance of such website, publication of their overdue annual reports, provide assistance to prepare press statements and provided support for their press conferences.
National Project Co-ordinator – Ms Thanuja Navaratne 6.2 UNICEF funded Project A special project on the theme “Increase Conﬁdence of Communities in Reporting and responding to Violations of Children’s Rights was funded by the UNICEF on July 25th 2012.

The project covered six districts and the activities on various thematic areas to fulﬁll the above purpose were conducted by the regional coordinators of the HRCSL.

The following programmes were organized for the year 2012.
The Project Coordinator - Ms Shirani Rajapakse Director Education and Special Projects Chapter Seven STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN YEAR 2012 The necessity to lay emphasis on the concept of supremacy of the law n the present context, the need to protect the supremacy of law is important.

For a healthy, democratic society it is necessary for the 3 organs of government to act with respect and understanding towards each other.

This would help to maintain a healthy relationship.
The action taken in the recent past to remove the Chief Justice from her post was strictly in accordance with the law, however the procedure that was followed in achieving this objective has given rise to issues relating to the concept of the independence of the judiciary.

It would appear that there was a conﬂict between the legislature and the judiciary.
This situation necessarily weakened the conﬁdence placed by the people in the legal system and also came into conﬂict with the aspirations of society relating to the independence and impartiality of these institutions in their day to day work.

This situation has given rise to creating doubts among the people on the question whether the judiciary was capable of acting independently and also whether other institutions are prone to act in such a manner so as to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
The necessity to consider the impeachment of the Chief Justice provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the shortcomings in this regard under the prevailing law, to take steps to rectify such a situation and to introduce a policy in this matter which would necessarily strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

However unfortunately this situation far from achieving this objective highlighted the prevailing policy on this matter between the Judiciary and the State.
This situation also provided a good opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their powers and attract the attention of the public to their own selﬁsh objectives.

As a consequence this golden opportunity to highlight democratic values was lost and an unhealthy situation arose from the point of view of society.
Further, it is imperative that the judiciary of this country must be given every opportunity to maintain its independence at the highest level possible and in this regard it is our considered view that the present law must necessarily be amended with a view to strengthening the concept of judicial independence.

It is indeed essential to ensure that the judiciary is vested with an environment to act without fear and suspicion.
It is our considered view that the procedure to remove a judicial oﬃcer must necessarily be transparent and also be in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice.
It is fairly clear that the present procedure adopted for the purpose of removing a judge and E) Measures for Negative Social Issues; • Special mechanism should be formulated for considering problems relating to prisoners’ families (for their best interest, specially regarding the children in schooling age), during the time they are at the remand prison.
• The way people respond to competitive economic, social, cultural or other issues can be changed satisfactorily by formulating various steps regarding their initial background (ex: formal and informal education, cultural and social background etc.).

the impeachment process should be more transparent and more in accord with the principles of democracy.
It must be emphasized that the “latimer” commonwealth principles speciﬁcally provide for the procedure to be adopted when charges are brought against a judge and that such charges should necessarily be inquired by an independent body which could be tied up to the impeachment process.

This appears to be a matter which must be the subject of serious debate/discussion.
It is our considered view that public conﬁdence in the legal system could be sustained only within a framework acceptable through intensive discussion.

It must be conceded that presently we have missed this opportunity.

However it must be emphasized that such a procedure must indeed be followed in the future in the interest of society in general in Sri Lanka.
• Suitable steps should be initiated to change the traditional response of the civil society over Disappeared and Missing persons prisoners, as the prisoners too are a part of their own society.
I) Measures for the Issue of Capital Punishment; and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities in the governance of the A march by women protesting of missing loved ones was organized jointly by the Committee for Investigating Disappearances and the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.

About 25 women mainly from the North and East took part in this symbolic march along the streets from a Hindu Kovil in Kochchikade to another Hindu Kovil in Gintupitiya.
They carried clay pots with camphor ﬁre in keeping with cultural traditions.

The women prayed and pleaded for information about their husbands, fathers and sons who had gone missing.

Some are known to have been abducted in white vans.

Extra-judicial arrests and abductions are unacceptable in a democracy.

The LLRC Report had also stated “that in many instances it was revealed that formal complaints had been made to police stations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the ICRC.
Yet the next of kin continue to complain that the where about of many of these missing persons are still unknown.

The government is duty bound to direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and perpetrators brought to justice.

It is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of any person who is taken into custody by governmental authorities through surrender or arrest.
Comment The Government has come up with a number of policies and action plans that include the National Policy on Social Integration, and the National Human Rights Action Plan on implementing the recommendation of the LLRC.

The National Action Plan on the LLRC recommendations has to be implemented with sincerity.

Implementing these recommendations would go a long way towards promoting national unity and peace.
The government must ignore chauvinistic and extreme nationalist elements within and without and go ahead to usher in an era of peace, stability and growth in the country.

Most importantly, the rule of law must be protected and there should not be any place for vindictiveness and revenge.

Sri Lanka has existed as a social welfare state even before it attained independence in 1948 as successive governments in the country had adopted social welfare measures in the administration of the country.
This could be attributed to movements like the Suriya Mal campaigns that were originally started to provide for the betterment of the underprivileged classes of the society in the mid 1930 s. Therefore today though no legislation has been passed by the Parliament to give legal eﬀect to the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights unlike in the case of civil and political rights which are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in Chapter III of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution provide for the implementation of social welfare measures for the beneﬁt of the people.
Thus these Principles state that the legislature and the executive shall be guided by the objective of promotion of social and economic welfare of the people by securing an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions 48 country.

During the year 2012 the massive infrastructure development of the country that was started after the cessation of the internal conﬂict in 2009 continued.
In Sri Lanka 80% of the people still live in villages and in plantation areas.

Therefore the road networks, power, water, irrigation, schools, maternal clinics have been included in the Gama Neguma village development programme.
In the year 2012 a program was also launched where Rs one million was given to construct / develop any one project in each village in the island under the scheme ‘ Gamakata eke wedakka’ (one project for one village) It was found that when mega development projects were carried out in various parts of the country there were a number of small towns which were striving hard to keep pace with the development drive taking place in other parts of the country.
Therefore a program to develop 108 small towns that come under underdeveloped Pradeshiya Sabhas across the country was launched under the name ‘Pura Neguma’ this year to be completede by the year 1015.
Under this programme the respective Pradeshiya Sabhas have to develop the infrastructure facilities in these towns such as public toilets, vehicle parks including three wheel parks, market complexes, weekly fair areas, Pradeshiya Sabha buildings, libraries, childrens parks, access roads, drinking water and resting places.
Pura Neguma is implemnted in the Pradeshiya Sabhas outside the North and East as the Economic Development Ministry is launching programs in those areas focusing on the same matters Urban development gained a high momentum in the year 2012 as many projects that improved the quality of urban environment were initiated and completed.

The objective of these developments is to provide a holistic living and a working environment for the country.
Therefore public utilities, recreational facilities and urban beautiﬁcation programmes were given much importance in the year with emphasis being placed on Colombo and its suburbs.

During this year several lower middle class housing condominiums that had been constructed over 30 years ago and were in dilapidated conditions were renovated beneﬁting more than 18,000 dwellers.

The upgrading of non-permanent residences under NHDA Programs which started a few years ago continued during the year 2012.
Several luxury housing complexes are also being constructed for high income earners by the private sector with foreign collaboration.

A number of housing schemes have been launched in the North and the East to ﬁnd permanent housing for displaced persons.

In the North special loans under a foreign funded project were given to displaced families and the construction of houses was done through a participatory approach, thus enhancing the resettlement eﬀorts of the government.
With urbanization and change of lifestyle of the people the demand for pipe born water is also rising in all cities.

All people have to be provided with clean drinking water and in drawing up plans for the development of towns and cities the provision of for rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities have been made compulsory The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is 90.8% as primary and secondary education has been free and compulsory for over 40 years.
Even university education is free in the state universities.

The state policy is to teach both Sinhala and Tamil in schools thus promoting ethnic harmony from the young days.

However the lack of qualiﬁed teachers for this project is causing problems at present.

Emphasis is also placed on teaching English and computer education in schools.

In 2012 a project to develop 1000 secondary schools across the island was launched.
The Ministry of Education entered into several joint ventures with the private sector to improve the IT knowledge of students in these schools.

Thus in one venture with The State Trading Corporation and the Etiselat Company, one thousand laptops with internet facilities were provided, the main objective of venture being to provide school children with subject knowledge via internet from teachers approved by the National Institute of Education.
In another venture with Intel Sri Lanka the teachers in schools who had been already trained by Intel Sri Lanka, were being helped to integrate ICT into their lessons and empower the students to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

The continued work stoppage activities of the University teachers hindered the studies of students.
The severe lack of accommodation in state universities as only 22,000 of the 150,000 students who get qualiﬁed for admission are unable to secure placement in the universities remains unsolved.

In addition the Universities are faced with the admission of a further 5800 students due to the Z score issue.
The government has stated very categorically that state universities will not be privatized but is agreeable to recognize quality private education in Sri Lanka so that the ﬂow of foreign exchange out of the country could be saved.

Thus the private medical college at Malabe continues with a new teaching Hospital as the students were unable to get the required training in state hospitals due to objection by the doctors union.
Only 29% of the Arts graduates are employed compared to 95% Engineering graduates and 90% of MBBS graduates who have secured employment.

Therefore a proposal to change the composition of the BA degree subjects with emphasis on languages like Sinhala, Tamil and English is being studied.

Life expectancy of Sri Lankan women and men has increased to 80 and 76 years respectively, thus reﬂecting an improvement in the health care services and living standards of the people.
In Sri Lanka State hospitals and health clinics are free and accessible to all persons including even foreigners.

There are 593 government hospitals in the island with 73,437 beds .

A recent survey has revealed that 20% 3 of hospital beds are occupied by patients fallen ill due to use of tobacco and alcohol and 72% of illnesses in the country are NCDs which are mainly related to tobacco and alcohol.
The attempt to have a warning against smoking in picture form so that it will be a more eﬀective than the already existing written warning on the box of cigarettes was heavily opposed by the cigarette dealers who have taken the matter to courts and the Health Ministry is awaiting a decision by the courts.

There is an alarming increase of Non Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, cardio vascular diseases, strokes etc.
The major risk factors for NCDs are considered unhealthy dietary habits, job stress, physical inactivity.

Therefore the Ministry of Health has been actively engaged in the promotion of an awareness campaign of the value of eating proper food and exercise for a healthy life among school children, youth and the general public.

Communicable diseases such as dengue, ﬁllaria and recently malaria which was almost eradicated a few years back also still remain a public concern.
In September 2012 Jaﬀna peninsula was connected to the national grid after 25 years.

The Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Plant was added to the national grid during the current year.

The steps are also taken to construct over 100 mini hydro power projects with the aim of making the national grid a system where electricity is provided by the public.

Already the private sector operates around 100 mini hydro power projects in the country.
Construction works of the second phase of Norochcholai and the new coal plant at Sampur are in progress.

As the cost of electricity has been going up yearly, the search alternative energy sources such as solar power, sea waves, wind and nano technology related energy continues.

Already 74 MW wind power,11.5 MW biomass energy and 1.4 MW solar is connected to the national grid4 .
The ﬁrst Dendro (gliricidia) energy power plant situated at Anuradhapura, began feeding 500 KW to the national grid in July 2012 The“ Divi Neguma” National Program that was launched in March 2011 was aimed to provide food security, eradicate hunger and poverty and help improve the nutritional standards of the people.

In 2012 this programme has had tremendous success in all areas especially agriculture, livestock, industrial and in the ﬁsheries sector.
The progrmme has been implemented in all 25 districts and coconut saplings, vegetable seeds, fruit plants herbal plants, minor export crops etc have been distributed to the selected households.

Resources to commence projects such as growing mushrooms, bee keeping, growing ornamental ﬂowers etc have also been provided.

Steps have been taken to promote people to grow certain crops that can be grown in Sri Lanka but is at present being imported from foreign countries.
These crops are green gram, peanuts, dry chillies, soya, maize.

Already Sri Lanka has started exporting maize.

The distribution of chicks and milch cows under this program has helped to improve the nutrition of the family while improving their incomes.

It has been found that milk production can be increased by keeping cows in a restricted area (cowsheds) and feeding them systematically and 5292 cow sheds were constructed for this purpose.
Goat herding has also achieved considerable progress under this program in 2012.

Over 6000 ﬁsheries projects have implemented in the year and as a result fresh ﬁsh is available in the estate sector in Nuwara Eliya district.

It has been reported that estate labourers run to work in their ﬁsh ponds after their routine work instead of going to liquor bars.

Human smuggling was a major concern in the year 2012 with over 2000 being arrested trying to gain illegal entry to Australia.
It was found that people of Sinhala, Tamil and Moor origins were all induced to seek greener pastures and the process was operated by a network whose local agents promoted the innocent people to go on these risky voyages.

However with the Australian Government taking strong action and diverting boats ﬁrst to the Christmas Island and later to Papua New Guinea there seems to be a slowing down of the process.
In society women, children, migrant workers, physically and mentally handicapped and the aged are considered vulnerable groups who are in need of special care and attention.

In the year 2012 though there were many acts of violence against women reported in the media the such acts as a whole did not reach the levels reported in 2011.

However reported cases of violence against migrant women showed a marked increase in the current year.
This resulted in the Ministry of Foreign Employment taking several steps such as raising the age to 25 years in case of domestic employment in certain Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and also requiring the prospective employer to deposit US $ 1000 in respective of each prospective employee before the contract is signed.

The government proposes to completely stop the migration of unskilled female domestic labour in a few years time.
According to the 2012 statistics of the SLFEB the ratio of women to men are 49% to 51%.

Sri Lanka is has failed to ﬁll skilled female job cadres in the Gulf countries such as trained baby sitters, nannies, nurses, sales girls.

Therefore it is time that the government organizes training programs to cater to such job demands though like in the case of nurses there is a reluctance to seek employment in the Middle East.
Sexual exploitation of children keeps rising yearly according to the available statistic at the National Child Protection Authority.

The Authority states that presently people are more aware of acts of abuse due to the awareness programs carried and the publicity given to the hot line and such acts get reported without being unreported as in the earlier days.

Sri Lanka has a fair percentage of persons with physical disability which could be due to the 30 years of internal conﬂict.
These persons too have a right to the full participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

However the restricted access of such persons to public buildings and public transport is a barrier to their enjoyment of the normal life of the community.

The Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act No28 of 1996 and the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 made therein have provided the necessary legal framework for such persons for the equal enjoyment of the life in the society.
A very wide meaning has also been given to the words ‘Public Building/Structure’ in the Regulations as meaning any government or private sector building used by the public in daily life.

Therefore banks, hospitals shopping centres, supermarkets are all included to have accessibility for the disabled.

However even in the city of Colombo one sees banks and well patronized shopping centres today without any accessibility provision for the disabled.
In Sri Lanka there is a remarkable increase in the ageing population with the increasing life expectancy, improving health care facilities and living standards of the people.

Unfortunately this matter has not been addressed by the planners and policy makers as well as those in the health sector.

There are Day Centres for Elders in several areas which are ﬁnancially supported by the National Secretariat for Elders.
The Social Service Department has trained a home day care service available to the public at very reasonable price but this service needs to be improved to cater to the growing demand.

However there are several private retiring homes and day and night care services which are available to persons who are able to pay a high price for the service.
The level of poverty in Sri Lanka has been reduced considerably by schemes such as the Livelihood Development and Economic Empowerment programs under the Divi Neguma and Samurdi Schemes.

Several cottage industries carried out under the Livelihood Development programs of the Divi Neguma, like the production of candles, joss-sticks, cement blocks, virgin coconut oil help the poor to earn additional income.
Loan Facilities to start various livelihood programmes under the Samurdi Scheme has constantly helped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in case of family bereavements, hospitalization and child births.

In 2012 Sri Lankan economy grew at 6.4% only as compared to the two previous years which witnessed a growth rate of 8 %.
The country has achieved many of MDGs including the halving of poverty, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women ahead of the target year 2015 and is striving hard to achieve a per capita income target of US dollars 4000 in 2016.
However the slow implementation of the LLRC Recommendations has become a matter of concern to many as it was hoped that issues which lead to the 30 year ethnic conﬂict would ﬁnd a solution in the implementation of the Recommendation.

As everyone knows it is only in a peaceful environment that fruits of the massive development programmes currently taking place could be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans both present and future.
right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
• The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
oﬃcers purpose • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of persons the country Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.
Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates E) Measures for Negative Social Issues; • Special mechanism should be formulated for considering problems relating to prisoners’ families (for their best interest, specially regarding the children in schooling age), during the time they are at the remand prison.
• The way people respond to competitive economic, social, cultural or other issues can be changed satisfactorily by formulating various steps regarding their initial background (ex: formal and informal education, cultural and social background etc.).

the impeachment process should be more transparent and more in accord with the principles of democracy.
It must be emphasized that the “latimer” commonwealth principles speciﬁcally provide for the procedure to be adopted when charges are brought against a judge and that such charges should necessarily be inquired by an independent body which could be tied up to the impeachment process.

This appears to be a matter which must be the subject of serious debate/discussion.
It is our considered view that public conﬁdence in the legal system could be sustained only within a framework acceptable through intensive discussion.

It must be conceded that presently we have missed this opportunity.

However it must be emphasized that such a procedure must indeed be followed in the future in the interest of society in general in Sri Lanka.
• Suitable steps should be initiated to change the traditional response of the civil society over Disappeared and Missing persons prisoners, as the prisoners too are a part of their own society.

Chapter Six FOREIGN FUNDED PROJECTS 6.1.


UN Support to National Human Rights Institutions - UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, 2012 The overarching UN support to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) since 2009 has been conducted through a UN Joint programme on Human Rights which began in November 2009.
This project was launched by the UNDP on the request made by government of Sri Lanka, following their commitment given at the 2008 Human Rights Council meeting to support to upgrade the HRCSL back to grade A.

The main objective of the programme was to provide technical and ﬁnancial support to HRCSL.
This support was targeted towards strengthening operational eﬀectiveness in key areas that were identi- ﬁed by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for National Human Rights Institutions as the reasons for the downgrading of the HRCSL from A to B in 2007 and re aﬃrmed in 2009.

The Joint Programme was implemented by HRCSL with their staﬀ through the head oﬃce and regional oﬃces, with funding and technical support from UNDP and the UN Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In 2012 both OHCHR and UNHCR also contributed funds towards the Joint Programme.

In the reporting period of 2012, the UN Joint Programme continued to support the HRCSL in the areas of their core mandate, including: Strategic vision of the HRCSL – A 21-day capacity assessment (CA) of HRCSL was undertaken by a tripartite team comprised of the Asia Paciﬁc Forum, UNDP regional oﬃce and OHCHR through the Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In follow up to this activity, the UN Joint Programme facilitated the HRCSL in the development of a 3-year strategic plan which was based on the CA recommendations, National Human Rights Action Plan and LLRC recommendations and wide consultations with all staﬀ at national and regional levels of HRCSL.

HRCSL developed their 2012 Action Plan based on the outcomes of this workshop which had the participation of all senior staﬀ of HRCSL.
Through regular meetings between UN senior HR advisor and Commissioners and also participation of UNDP project coordinator in the HRCSL’s central committee meetings, UN has taken eﬀort to constantly communicate their perspective on HRCSL’s activities and functions.

Regional Oﬃces – The UN Joint Programme continued to provide support to the regional oﬃces in the form of technical trainings, provision of equipment, and funding to support legal consultants and engagement with civil society.
Through the Joint Programme, UNHCR supported the establishment of a mobile clinic in Kilinochchi in 2012 which is providing outreach to the former war-aﬀected areas of the north where regional oﬃces have not yet been established.
National policy and legislation – The ﬁrst of a planned series of consultations and a study conference to sensitize Members of Parliament on international human rights laws and standards was organized by a project in the Parliament in December 2012 in collaboration with HRCSL, UN and Parliament.

For the ﬁrst time in the history of Parliament, a full day study conference on Human Rights was held within Parliament with 73 Parliament Members taking part.
This was followed by a dialogue on Human Rights among Members of Parliament, HRCSL Commissioners and UN Country Team.

The project is also working with Parliament to establish a HR select committee.

As a ﬁrst step the project organized an exposure visit for Deputy Speaker and another MP to visit and discuss with HR select committee in Parliament of Philippines and the Speaker.
The project provided technical and funding support for HRCSL to hold a series of consultations at regional and national level on elders’ rights and formulate recommendations for UN OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) on elders’ rights and national policy making authorities.

Engagement with Civil Society – The Project continued support for quarterly dialogues/consultations at national and regional levels that are constructive and inclusive of a broad spectrum of civil society actors.
Though the project was able to support only 2 meetings in 2012 at national level, 34 meetings/consultations were supported by project through the 10 regional oﬃces.

Joint action plans with civil society have been developed by 7 of the regional oﬃces as a result of these consultations and are in operation at regional level.
The project supported HRCSL by developing a training module and conducting 10 numbers of 2 day residential trainings for civil society actors, on their request with support from external experts through regional oﬃces.

The project also supported a 2 day residential training for media personnel and another 3 day training for youth on human rights through HRCSL.
Public reporting – The UN Joint Programme has supported the development of a tri-lingual website for HRCSL and the maintenance of such website, publication of their overdue annual reports, provide assistance to prepare press statements and provided support for their press conferences.
National Project Co-ordinator – Ms Thanuja Navaratne 6.2 UNICEF funded Project A special project on the theme “Increase Conﬁdence of Communities in Reporting and responding to Violations of Children’s Rights was funded by the UNICEF on July 25th 2012.

The project covered six districts and the activities on various thematic areas to fulﬁll the above purpose were conducted by the regional coordinators of the HRCSL.

The following programmes were organized for the year 2012.
The Project Coordinator - Ms Shirani Rajapakse Director Education and Special Projects Chapter Seven STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN YEAR 2012 The necessity to lay emphasis on the concept of supremacy of the law n the present context, the need to protect the supremacy of law is important.

For a healthy, democratic society it is necessary for the 3 organs of government to act with respect and understanding towards each other.

This would help to maintain a healthy relationship.
The action taken in the recent past to remove the Chief Justice from her post was strictly in accordance with the law, however the procedure that was followed in achieving this objective has given rise to issues relating to the concept of the independence of the judiciary.

It would appear that there was a conﬂict between the legislature and the judiciary.
This situation necessarily weakened the conﬁdence placed by the people in the legal system and also came into conﬂict with the aspirations of society relating to the independence and impartiality of these institutions in their day to day work.

This situation has given rise to creating doubts among the people on the question whether the judiciary was capable of acting independently and also whether other institutions are prone to act in such a manner so as to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
The necessity to consider the impeachment of the Chief Justice provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the shortcomings in this regard under the prevailing law, to take steps to rectify such a situation and to introduce a policy in this matter which would necessarily strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

However unfortunately this situation far from achieving this objective highlighted the prevailing policy on this matter between the Judiciary and the State.
This situation also provided a good opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their powers and attract the attention of the public to their own selﬁsh objectives.

As a consequence this golden opportunity to highlight democratic values was lost and an unhealthy situation arose from the point of view of society.
Further, it is imperative that the judiciary of this country must be given every opportunity to maintain its independence at the highest level possible and in this regard it is our considered view that the present law must necessarily be amended with a view to strengthening the concept of judicial independence.

It is indeed essential to ensure that the judiciary is vested with an environment to act without fear and suspicion.
It is our considered view that the procedure to remove a judicial oﬃcer must necessarily be transparent and also be in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice.

It is fairly clear that the present procedure adopted for the purpose of removing a judge and A march by women protesting of missing loved ones was organized jointly by the Committee for Investigating Disappearances and the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.
About 25 women mainly from the North and East took part in this symbolic march along the streets from a Hindu Kovil in Kochchikade to another Hindu Kovil in Gintupitiya.

They carried clay pots with camphor ﬁre in keeping with cultural traditions.

The women prayed and pleaded for information about their husbands, fathers and sons who had gone missing.

Some are known to have been abducted in white vans.

Extra-judicial arrests and abductions are unacceptable in a democracy.
The LLRC Report had also stated “that in many instances it was revealed that formal complaints had been made to police stations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the ICRC.

Yet the next of kin continue to complain that the where about of many of these missing persons are still unknown.

The government is duty bound to direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and perpetrators brought to justice.
It is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of any person who is taken into custody by governmental authorities through surrender or arrest.

Comment The Government has come up with a number of policies and action plans that include the National Policy on Social Integration, and the National Human Rights Action Plan on implementing the recommendation of the LLRC.

The National Action Plan on the LLRC recommendations has to be implemented with sincerity.
Implementing these recommendations would go a long way towards promoting national unity and peace.

The government must ignore chauvinistic and extreme nationalist elements within and without and go ahead to usher in an era of peace, stability and growth in the country.

Most importantly, the rule of law must be protected and there should not be any place for vindictiveness and revenge.
Sri Lanka has existed as a social welfare state even before it attained independence in 1948 as successive governments in the country had adopted social welfare measures in the administration of the country.
This could be attributed to movements like the Suriya Mal campaigns that were originally started to provide for the betterment of the underprivileged classes of the society in the mid 1930 s. Therefore today though no legislation has been passed by the Parliament to give legal eﬀect to the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights unlike in the case of civil and political rights which are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in Chapter III of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution provide for the implementation of social welfare measures for the beneﬁt of the people.
Thus these Principles state that the legislature and the executive shall be guided by the objective of promotion of social and economic welfare of the people by securing an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities in the governance of the country.
During the year 2012 the massive infrastructure development of the country that was started after the cessation of the internal conﬂict in 2009 continued.

In Sri Lanka 80% of the people still live in villages and in plantation areas.

Therefore the road networks, power, water, irrigation, schools, maternal clinics have been included in the Gama Neguma village development programme.
In the year 2012 a program was also launched where Rs one million was given to construct / develop any one project in each village in the island under the scheme ‘ Gamakata eke wedakka’ (one project for one village) It was found that when mega development projects were carried out in various parts of the country there were a number of small towns which were striving hard to keep pace with the development drive taking place in other parts of the country.
Therefore a program to develop 108 small towns that come under underdeveloped Pradeshiya Sabhas across the country was launched under the name ‘Pura Neguma’ this year to be completede by the year 1015.
Under this programme the respective Pradeshiya Sabhas have to develop the infrastructure facilities in these towns such as public toilets, vehicle parks including three wheel parks, market complexes, weekly fair areas, Pradeshiya Sabha buildings, libraries, childrens parks, access roads, drinking water and resting places.
Pura Neguma is implemnted in the Pradeshiya Sabhas outside the North and East as the Economic Development Ministry is launching programs in those areas focusing on the same matters Urban development gained a high momentum in the year 2012 as many projects that improved the quality of urban environment were initiated and completed.

The objective of these developments is to provide a holistic living and a working environment for the country.
Therefore public utilities, recreational facilities and urban beautiﬁcation programmes were given much importance in the year with emphasis being placed on Colombo and its suburbs.

During this year several lower middle class housing condominiums that had been constructed over 30 years ago and were in dilapidated conditions were renovated beneﬁting more than 18,000 dwellers.

The upgrading of non-permanent residences under NHDA Programs which started a few years ago continued during the year 2012.
Several luxury housing complexes are also being constructed for high income earners by the private sector with foreign collaboration.

A number of housing schemes have been launched in the North and the East to ﬁnd permanent housing for displaced persons.

In the North special loans under a foreign funded project were given to displaced families and the construction of houses was done through a participatory approach, thus enhancing the resettlement eﬀorts of the government.
With urbanization and change of lifestyle of the people the demand for pipe born water is also rising in all cities.

All people have to be provided with clean drinking water and in drawing up plans for the development of towns and cities the provision of for rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities have been made compulsory The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is 90.8% as primary and secondary education has been free and compulsory for over 40 years.
Even university education is free in the state universities.

The state policy is to teach both Sinhala and Tamil in schools thus promoting ethnic harmony from the young days.

However the lack of qualiﬁed teachers for this project is causing problems at present.

Emphasis is also placed on teaching English and computer education in schools.

In 2012 a project to develop 1000 secondary schools across the island was launched.
The Ministry of Education entered into several joint ventures with the private sector to improve the IT knowledge of students in these schools.

Thus in one venture with The State Trading Corporation and the Etiselat 49 Company, one thousand laptops with internet facilities were provided, the main objective of venture being to provide school children with subject knowledge via internet from teachers approved by the National Institute of Education.
In another venture with Intel Sri Lanka the teachers in schools who had been already trained by Intel Sri Lanka, were being helped to integrate ICT into their lessons and empower the students to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

The continued work stoppage activities of the University teachers hindered the studies of students.
The severe lack of accommodation in state universities as only 22,000 of the 150,000 students who get qualiﬁed for admission are unable to secure placement in the universities remains unsolved.

In addition the Universities are faced with the admission of a further 5800 students due to the Z score issue.
The government has stated very categorically that state universities will not be privatized but is agreeable to recognize quality private education in Sri Lanka so that the ﬂow of foreign exchange out of the country could be saved.

Thus the private medical college at Malabe continues with a new teaching Hospital as the students were unable to get the required training in state hospitals due to objection by the doctors union.
Only 29% of the Arts graduates are employed compared to 95% Engineering graduates and 90% of MBBS graduates who have secured employment.

Therefore a proposal to change the composition of the BA degree subjects with emphasis on languages like Sinhala, Tamil and English is being studied.

Life expectancy of Sri Lankan women and men has increased to 80 and 76 years respectively, thus reﬂecting an improvement in the health care services and living standards of the people.
In Sri Lanka State hospitals and health clinics are free and accessible to all persons including even foreigners.

There are 593 government hospitals in the island with 73,437 beds .

A recent survey has revealed that 20% 3 of hospital beds are occupied by patients fallen ill due to use of tobacco and alcohol and 72% of illnesses in the country are NCDs which are mainly related to tobacco and alcohol.
The attempt to have a warning against smoking in picture form so that it will be a more eﬀective than the already existing written warning on the box of cigarettes was heavily opposed by the cigarette dealers who have taken the matter to courts and the Health Ministry is awaiting a decision by the courts.

There is an alarming increase of Non Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, cardio vascular diseases, strokes etc.
The major risk factors for NCDs are considered unhealthy dietary habits, job stress, physical inactivity.

Therefore the Ministry of Health has been actively engaged in the promotion of an awareness campaign of the value of eating proper food and exercise for a healthy life among school children, youth and the general public.

Communicable diseases such as dengue, ﬁllaria and recently malaria which was almost eradicated a few years back also still remain a public concern.
In September 2012 Jaﬀna peninsula was connected to the national grid after 25 years.

The Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Plant was added to the national grid during the current year.

The steps are also taken to construct over 100 mini hydro power projects with the aim of making the national grid a system where electricity is provided by the public.

Already the private sector operates around 100 mini hydro power projects in the country.
Construction works of the second phase of Norochcholai and the new coal plant at Sampur are in progress.

As the cost of electricity has been going up yearly, the search alternative energy sources such as solar power, sea waves, wind and nano technology related energy continues.

Already 74 MW wind power,11.5 MW biomass energy and 1.4 MW solar is connected to the national grid4 .
The ﬁrst Dendro (gliricidia) energy power plant situated at Anuradhapura, began feeding 500 KW to the national grid in July 2012 The“ Divi Neguma” National Program that was launched in March 2011 was aimed to provide food security, eradicate hunger and poverty and help improve the nutritional standards of the people.

In 2012 this programme has had tremendous success in all areas especially agriculture, livestock, industrial and in the ﬁsheries sector.
The progrmme has been implemented in all 25 districts and coconut saplings, vegetable seeds, fruit plants herbal plants, minor export crops etc have been distributed to the selected households.

Resources to commence projects such as growing mushrooms, bee keeping, growing ornamental ﬂowers etc have also been provided.

Steps have been taken to promote people to grow certain crops that can be grown in Sri Lanka but is at present being imported from foreign countries.
These crops are green gram, peanuts, dry chillies, soya, maize.

Already Sri Lanka has started exporting maize.

The distribution of chicks and milch cows under this program has helped to improve the nutrition of the family while improving their incomes.

It has been found that milk production can be increased by keeping cows in a restricted area (cowsheds) and feeding them systematically and 5292 cow sheds were constructed for this purpose.
Goat herding has also achieved considerable progress under this program in 2012.

Over 6000 ﬁsheries projects have implemented in the year and as a result fresh ﬁsh is available in the estate sector in Nuwara Eliya district.

It has been reported that estate labourers run to work in their ﬁsh ponds after their routine work instead of going to liquor bars.

Human smuggling was a major concern in the year 2012 with over 2000 being arrested trying to gain illegal entry to Australia.
It was found that people of Sinhala, Tamil and Moor origins were all induced to seek greener pastures and the process was operated by a network whose local agents promoted the innocent people to go on these risky voyages.

However with the Australian Government taking strong action and diverting boats ﬁrst to the Christmas Island and later to Papua New Guinea there seems to be a slowing down of the process.
In society women, children, migrant workers, physically and mentally handicapped and the aged are considered vulnerable groups who are in need of special care and attention.

In the year 2012 though there were many acts of violence against women reported in the media the such acts as a whole did not reach the levels reported in 2011.

However reported cases of violence against migrant women showed a marked increase in the current year.
This resulted in the Ministry of Foreign Employment taking several steps such as raising the age to 25 years in case of domestic employment in certain Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and also requiring the prospective employer to deposit US $ 1000 in respective of each prospective employee before the contract is signed.

The government proposes to completely stop the migration of unskilled female domestic labour in a few years time.
According to the 2012 statistics of the SLFEB the ratio of women to men are 49% to 51%.

Sri Lanka is has failed to ﬁll skilled female job cadres in the Gulf countries such as trained baby sitters, nannies, nurses, sales girls.

Therefore it is time that the government organizes training programs to cater to such job demands though like in the case of nurses there is a reluctance to seek employment in the Middle East.
Sexual exploitation of children keeps rising yearly according to the available statistic at the National Child Protection Authority.

The Authority states that presently people are more aware of acts of abuse due to the awareness programs carried and the publicity given to the hot line and such acts get reported without being unreported as in the earlier days.

Sri Lanka has a fair percentage of persons with physical disability which could be due to the 30 years of internal conﬂict.
These persons too have a right to the full participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

However the restricted access of such persons to public buildings and public transport is a barrier to their enjoyment of the normal life of the community.

The Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act No28 of 1996 and the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 made therein have provided the necessary legal framework for such persons for the equal enjoyment of the life in the society.
A very wide meaning has also been given to the words ‘Public Building/Structure’ in the Regulations as meaning any government or private sector building used by the public in daily life.

Therefore banks, hospitals shopping centres, supermarkets are all included to have accessibility for the disabled.

However even in the city of Colombo one sees banks and well patronized shopping centres today without any accessibility provision for the disabled.
In Sri Lanka there is a remarkable increase in the ageing population with the increasing life expectancy, improving health care facilities and living standards of the people.

Unfortunately this matter has not been addressed by the planners and policy makers as well as those in the health sector.

There are Day Centres for Elders in several areas which are ﬁnancially supported by the National Secretariat for Elders.
The Social Service Department has trained a home day care service available to the public at very reasonable price but this service needs to be improved to cater to the growing demand.

However there are several private retiring homes and day and night care services which are available to persons who are able to pay a high price for the service.
The level of poverty in Sri Lanka has been reduced considerably by schemes such as the Livelihood Development and Economic Empowerment programs under the Divi Neguma and Samurdi Schemes.

Several cottage industries carried out under the Livelihood Development programs of the Divi Neguma, like the production of candles, joss-sticks, cement blocks, virgin coconut oil help the poor to earn additional income.
Loan Facilities to start various livelihood programmes under the Samurdi Scheme has constantly helped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in case of family bereavements, hospitalization and child births.

In 2012 Sri Lankan economy grew at 6.4% only as compared to the two previous years which witnessed a growth rate of 8 %.
The country has achieved many of MDGs including the halving of poverty, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women ahead of the target year 2015 and is striving hard to achieve a per capita income target of US dollars 4000 in 2016.
However the slow implementation of the LLRC Recommendations has become a matter of concern to many as it was hoped that issues which lead to the 30 year ethnic conﬂict would ﬁnd a solution in the implementation of the Recommendation.

As everyone knows it is only in a peaceful environment that fruits of the massive development programmes currently taking place could be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans both present and future.
right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
I) Measures for the Issue of Capital Punishment; • The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
oﬃcers purpose • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of persons the country Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.
Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates E) Measures for Negative Social Issues; • Special mechanism should be formulated for considering problems relating to prisoners’ families (for their best interest, specially regarding the children in schooling age), during the time they are at the remand prison.
• The way people respond to competitive economic, social, cultural or other issues can be changed satisfactorily by formulating various steps regarding their initial background (ex: formal and informal education, cultural and social background etc.).

the impeachment process should be more transparent and more in accord with the principles of democracy.
It must be emphasized that the “latimer” commonwealth principles speciﬁcally provide for the procedure to be adopted when charges are brought against a judge and that such charges should necessarily be inquired by an independent body which could be tied up to the impeachment process.

This appears to be a matter which must be the subject of serious debate/discussion.
It is our considered view that public conﬁdence in the legal system could be sustained only within a framework acceptable through intensive discussion.

It must be conceded that presently we have missed this opportunity.

However it must be emphasized that such a procedure must indeed be followed in the future in the interest of society in general in Sri Lanka.
• Suitable steps should be initiated to change the traditional response of the civil society over Disappeared and Missing persons prisoners, as the prisoners too are a part of their own society.

I) Measures for the Issue of Capital Punishment; and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities in the governance of the Chapter Six FOREIGN FUNDED PROJECTS 6.1.
UN Support to National Human Rights Institutions - UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, 2012 The overarching UN support to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) since 2009 has been conducted through a UN Joint programme on Human Rights which began in November 2009.

This project was launched by the UNDP on the request made by government of Sri Lanka, following their commitment given at the 2008 Human Rights Council meeting to support to upgrade the HRCSL back to grade A.
The main objective of the programme was to provide technical and ﬁnancial support to HRCSL.

This support was targeted towards strengthening operational eﬀectiveness in key areas that were identi- ﬁed by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for National Human Rights Institutions as the reasons for the downgrading of the HRCSL from A to B in 2007 and re aﬃrmed in 2009.
The Joint Programme was implemented by HRCSL with their staﬀ through the head oﬃce and regional oﬃces, with funding and technical support from UNDP and the UN Senior Human Rights Advisor.

In 2012 both OHCHR and UNHCR also contributed funds towards the Joint Programme.
In the reporting period of 2012, the UN Joint Programme continued to support the HRCSL in the areas of their core mandate, including: Strategic vision of the HRCSL – A 21-day capacity assessment (CA) of HRCSL was undertaken by a tripartite team comprised of the Asia Paciﬁc Forum, UNDP regional oﬃce and OHCHR through the Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In follow up to this activity, the UN Joint Programme facilitated the HRCSL in the development of a 3-year strategic plan which was based on the CA recommendations, National Human Rights Action Plan and LLRC recommendations and wide consultations with all staﬀ at national and regional levels of HRCSL.

HRCSL developed their 2012 Action Plan based on the outcomes of this workshop which had the participation of all senior staﬀ of HRCSL.
Through regular meetings between UN senior HR advisor and Commissioners and also participation of UNDP project coordinator in the HRCSL’s central committee meetings, UN has taken eﬀort to constantly communicate their perspective on HRCSL’s activities and functions.

Regional Oﬃces – The UN Joint Programme continued to provide support to the regional oﬃces in the form of technical trainings, provision of equipment, and funding to support legal consultants and engagement with civil society.
Through the Joint Programme, UNHCR supported the establishment of a mobile clinic in Kilinochchi in 2012 which is providing outreach to the former war-aﬀected areas of the north where regional oﬃces have not yet been established.
National policy and legislation – The ﬁrst of a planned series of consultations and a study conference to sensitize Members of Parliament on international human rights laws and standards was organized by a project in the Parliament in December 2012 in collaboration with HRCSL, UN and Parliament.

For the ﬁrst time in the history of Parliament, a full day study conference on Human Rights was held within Parliament with 73 Parliament Members taking part.
This was followed by a dialogue on Human Rights among Members of Parliament, HRCSL Commissioners and UN Country Team.

The project is also working with Parliament to establish a HR select committee.

As a ﬁrst step the project organized an exposure visit for Deputy Speaker and another MP to visit and discuss with HR select committee in Parliament of Philippines and the Speaker.
The project provided technical and funding support for HRCSL to hold a series of consultations at regional and national level on elders’ rights and formulate recommendations for UN OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) on elders’ rights and national policy making authorities.

Engagement with Civil Society – The Project continued support for quarterly dialogues/consultations at national and regional levels that are constructive and inclusive of a broad spectrum of civil society actors.
Though the project was able to support only 2 meetings in 2012 at national level, 34 meetings/consultations were supported by project through the 10 regional oﬃces.

Joint action plans with civil society have been developed by 7 of the regional oﬃces as a result of these consultations and are in operation at regional level.
The project supported HRCSL by developing a training module and conducting 10 numbers of 2 day residential trainings for civil society actors, on their request with support from external experts through regional oﬃces.

The project also supported a 2 day residential training for media personnel and another 3 day training for youth on human rights through HRCSL.
Public reporting – The UN Joint Programme has supported the development of a tri-lingual website for HRCSL and the maintenance of such website, publication of their overdue annual reports, provide assistance to prepare press statements and provided support for their press conferences.
National Project Co-ordinator – Ms Thanuja Navaratne 6.2 UNICEF funded Project A special project on the theme “Increase Conﬁdence of Communities in Reporting and responding to Violations of Children’s Rights was funded by the UNICEF on July 25th 2012.

The project covered six districts and the activities on various thematic areas to fulﬁll the above purpose were conducted by the regional coordinators of the HRCSL.

The following programmes were organized for the year 2012.
The Project Coordinator - Ms Shirani Rajapakse Director Education and Special Projects Chapter Seven STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN YEAR 2012 The necessity to lay emphasis on the concept of supremacy of the law n the present context, the need to protect the supremacy of law is important.

For a healthy, democratic society it is necessary for the 3 organs of government to act with respect and understanding towards each other.

This would help to maintain a healthy relationship.
The action taken in the recent past to remove the Chief Justice from her post was strictly in accordance with the law, however the procedure that was followed in achieving this objective has given rise to issues relating to the concept of the independence of the judiciary.

It would appear that there was a conﬂict between the legislature and the judiciary.
This situation necessarily weakened the conﬁdence placed by the people in the legal system and also came into conﬂict with the aspirations of society relating to the independence and impartiality of these institutions in their day to day work.

This situation has given rise to creating doubts among the people on the question whether the judiciary was capable of acting independently and also whether other institutions are prone to act in such a manner so as to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
The necessity to consider the impeachment of the Chief Justice provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the shortcomings in this regard under the prevailing law, to take steps to rectify such a situation and to introduce a policy in this matter which would necessarily strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

However unfortunately this situation far from achieving this objective highlighted the prevailing policy on this matter between the Judiciary and the State.
This situation also provided a good opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their powers and attract the attention of the public to their own selﬁsh objectives.

As a consequence this golden opportunity to highlight democratic values was lost and an unhealthy situation arose from the point of view of society.
Further, it is imperative that the judiciary of this country must be given every opportunity to maintain its independence at the highest level possible and in this regard it is our considered view that the present law must necessarily be amended with a view to strengthening the concept of judicial independence.

It is indeed essential to ensure that the judiciary is vested with an environment to act without fear and suspicion.
It is our considered view that the procedure to remove a judicial oﬃcer must necessarily be transparent and also be in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice.

It is fairly clear that the present procedure adopted for the purpose of removing a judge and A march by women protesting of missing loved ones was organized jointly by the Committee for Investigating Disappearances and the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.
About 25 women mainly from the North and East took part in this symbolic march along the streets from a Hindu Kovil in Kochchikade to another Hindu Kovil in Gintupitiya.

They carried clay pots with camphor ﬁre in keeping with cultural traditions.

The women prayed and pleaded for information about their husbands, fathers and sons who had gone missing.

Some are known to have been abducted in white vans.

Extra-judicial arrests and abductions are unacceptable in a democracy.
The LLRC Report had also stated “that in many instances it was revealed that formal complaints had been made to police stations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the ICRC.

Yet the next of kin continue to complain that the where about of many of these missing persons are still unknown.

The government is duty bound to direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and perpetrators brought to justice.
It is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of any person who is taken into custody by governmental authorities through surrender or arrest.

Comment The Government has come up with a number of policies and action plans that include the National Policy on Social Integration, and the National Human Rights Action Plan on implementing the recommendation of the LLRC.

The National Action Plan on the LLRC recommendations has to be implemented with sincerity.
Implementing these recommendations would go a long way towards promoting national unity and peace.

The government must ignore chauvinistic and extreme nationalist elements within and without and go ahead to usher in an era of peace, stability and growth in the country.

Most importantly, the rule of law must be protected and there should not be any place for vindictiveness and revenge.
Sri Lanka has existed as a social welfare state even before it attained independence in 1948 as successive governments in the country had adopted social welfare measures in the administration of the country.
This could be attributed to movements like the Suriya Mal campaigns that were originally started to provide for the betterment of the underprivileged classes of the society in the mid 1930 s. Therefore today though no legislation has been passed by the Parliament to give legal eﬀect to the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights unlike in the case of civil and political rights which are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in Chapter III of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution provide for the implementation of social welfare measures for the beneﬁt of the people.
Thus these Principles state that the legislature and the executive shall be guided by the objective of promotion of social and economic welfare of the people by securing an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions country.

During the year 2012 the massive infrastructure development of the country that was started after the cessation of the internal conﬂict in 2009 continued.
In Sri Lanka 80% of the people still live in villages and in plantation areas.

Therefore the road networks, power, water, irrigation, schools, maternal clinics have been included in the Gama Neguma village development programme.
In the year 2012 a program was also launched where Rs one million was given to construct / develop any one project in each village in the island under the scheme ‘ Gamakata eke wedakka’ (one project for one village) It was found that when mega development projects were carried out in various parts of the country there were a number of small towns which were striving hard to keep pace with the development drive taking place in other parts of the country.
Therefore a program to develop 108 small towns that come under underdeveloped Pradeshiya Sabhas across the country was launched under the name ‘Pura Neguma’ this year to be completede by the year 1015.
Under this programme the respective Pradeshiya Sabhas have to develop the infrastructure facilities in these towns such as public toilets, vehicle parks including three wheel parks, market complexes, weekly fair areas, Pradeshiya Sabha buildings, libraries, childrens parks, access roads, drinking water and resting places.
Pura Neguma is implemnted in the Pradeshiya Sabhas outside the North and East as the Economic Development Ministry is launching programs in those areas focusing on the same matters Urban development gained a high momentum in the year 2012 as many projects that improved the quality of urban environment were initiated and completed.

The objective of these developments is to provide a holistic living and a working environment for the country.
Therefore public utilities, recreational facilities and urban beautiﬁcation programmes were given much importance in the year with emphasis being placed on Colombo and its suburbs.

During this year several lower middle class housing condominiums that had been constructed over 30 years ago and were in dilapidated conditions were renovated beneﬁting more than 18,000 dwellers.

The upgrading of non-permanent residences under NHDA Programs which started a few years ago continued during the year 2012.
Several luxury housing complexes are also being constructed for high income earners by the private sector with foreign collaboration.

A number of housing schemes have been launched in the North and the East to ﬁnd permanent housing for displaced persons.

In the North special loans under a foreign funded project were given to displaced families and the construction of houses was done through a participatory approach, thus enhancing the resettlement eﬀorts of the government.
With urbanization and change of lifestyle of the people the demand for pipe born water is also rising in all cities.

All people have to be provided with clean drinking water and in drawing up plans for the development of towns and cities the provision of for rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities have been made compulsory The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is 90.8% as primary and secondary education has been free and compulsory for over 40 years.
Even university education is free in the state universities.

The state policy is to teach both Sinhala and Tamil in schools thus promoting ethnic harmony from the young days.

However the lack of qualiﬁed teachers for this project is causing problems at present.

Emphasis is also placed on teaching English and computer education in schools.

In 2012 a project to develop 1000 secondary schools across the island was launched.
The Ministry of Education entered into several joint ventures with the private sector to improve the IT knowledge of students in these schools.

Thus in one venture with The State Trading Corporation and the Etiselat Company, one thousand laptops with internet facilities were provided, the main objective of venture being to provide school children with subject knowledge via internet from teachers approved by the National Institute of Education.
In another venture with Intel Sri Lanka the teachers in schools who had been already trained by Intel Sri Lanka, were being helped to integrate ICT into their lessons and empower the students to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

The continued work stoppage activities of the University teachers hindered the studies of students.
The severe lack of accommodation in state universities as only 22,000 of the 150,000 students who get qualiﬁed for admission are unable to secure placement in the universities remains unsolved.

In addition the Universities are faced with the admission of a further 5800 students due to the Z score issue.
The government has stated very categorically that state universities will not be privatized but is agreeable to recognize quality private education in Sri Lanka so that the ﬂow of foreign exchange out of the country could be saved.

Thus the private medical college at Malabe continues with a new teaching Hospital as the students were unable to get the required training in state hospitals due to objection by the doctors union.
Only 29% of the Arts graduates are employed compared to 95% Engineering graduates and 90% of MBBS graduates who have secured employment.

Therefore a proposal to change the composition of the BA degree subjects with emphasis on languages like Sinhala, Tamil and English is being studied.

Life expectancy of Sri Lankan women and men has increased to 80 and 76 years respectively, thus reﬂecting an improvement in the health care services and living standards of the people.
In Sri Lanka State hospitals and health clinics are free and accessible to all persons including even foreigners.

There 3 .

A recent survey has revealed that 20% are 593 government hospitals in the island with 73,437 beds of hospital beds are occupied by patients fallen ill due to use of tobacco and alcohol and 72% of illnesses in the country are NCDs which are mainly related to tobacco and alcohol.
The attempt to have a warning against smoking in picture form so that it will be a more eﬀective than the already existing written warning on the box of cigarettes was heavily opposed by the cigarette dealers who have taken the matter to courts and the Health Ministry is awaiting a decision by the courts.

There is an alarming increase of Non Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, cardio vascular diseases, strokes etc.
The major risk factors for NCDs are considered unhealthy dietary habits, job stress, physical inactivity.

Therefore the Ministry of Health has been actively engaged in the promotion of an awareness campaign of the value of eating proper food and exercise for a healthy life among school children, youth and the general public.

Communicable diseases such as dengue, ﬁllaria and recently malaria which was almost eradicated a few years back also still remain a public concern.
In September 2012 Jaﬀna peninsula was connected to the national grid after 25 years.

The Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Plant was added to the national grid during the current year.

The steps are also taken to construct over 100 mini hydro power projects with the aim of making the national grid a system where electricity is provided by the public.

Already the private sector operates around 100 mini hydro power projects in the country.
Construction works of the second phase of Norochcholai and the new coal plant at Sampur are in progress.

As the cost of electricity has been going up yearly, the search alternative energy sources such as solar power, sea waves, wind and nano technology related energy continues.

Already 74 MW wind power,11.5 MW biomass energy and 1.4 MW solar is connected to the national grid4 .
The ﬁrst Dendro (gliricidia) energy power plant situated at Anuradhapura, began feeding 500 KW to the national grid in July 2012 The“ Divi Neguma” National Program that was launched in March 2011 was aimed to provide food security, eradicate hunger and poverty and help improve the nutritional standards of the people.
In 3 4 The Central Bank Report 2012 The Central Bank Report 2012 50 2012 this programme has had tremendous success in all areas especially agriculture, livestock, industrial and in the ﬁsheries sector.

The progrmme has been implemented in all 25 districts and coconut saplings, vegetable seeds, fruit plants herbal plants, minor export crops etc have been distributed to the selected households.
Resources to commence projects such as growing mushrooms, bee keeping, growing ornamental ﬂowers etc have also been provided.

Steps have been taken to promote people to grow certain crops that can be grown in Sri Lanka but is at present being imported from foreign countries.

These crops are green gram, peanuts, dry chillies, soya, maize.

Already Sri Lanka has started exporting maize.


The distribution of chicks and milch cows under this program has helped to improve the nutrition of the family while improving their incomes.

It has been found that milk production can be increased by keeping cows in a restricted area (cowsheds) and feeding them systematically and 5292 cow sheds were constructed for this purpose.

Goat herding has also achieved considerable progress under this program in 2012.
Over 6000 ﬁsheries projects have implemented in the year and as a result fresh ﬁsh is available in the estate sector in Nuwara Eliya district.

It has been reported that estate labourers run to work in their ﬁsh ponds after their routine work instead of going to liquor bars.

Human smuggling was a major concern in the year 2012 with over 2000 being arrested trying to gain illegal entry to Australia.
It was found that people of Sinhala, Tamil and Moor origins were all induced to seek greener pastures and the process was operated by a network whose local agents promoted the innocent people to go on these risky voyages.

However with the Australian Government taking strong action and diverting boats ﬁrst to the Christmas Island and later to Papua New Guinea there seems to be a slowing down of the process.
In society women, children, migrant workers, physically and mentally handicapped and the aged are considered vulnerable groups who are in need of special care and attention.

In the year 2012 though there were many acts of violence against women reported in the media the such acts as a whole did not reach the levels reported in 2011.

However reported cases of violence against migrant women showed a marked increase in the current year.
This resulted in the Ministry of Foreign Employment taking several steps such as raising the age to 25 years in case of domestic employment in certain Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and also requiring the prospective employer to deposit US $ 1000 in respective of each prospective employee before the contract is signed.

The government proposes to completely stop the migration of unskilled female domestic labour in a few years time.
According to the 2012 statistics of the SLFEB the ratio of women to men are 49% to 51%.

Sri Lanka is has failed to ﬁll skilled female job cadres in the Gulf countries such as trained baby sitters, nannies, nurses, sales girls.

Therefore it is time that the government organizes training programs to cater to such job demands though like in the case of nurses there is a reluctance to seek employment in the Middle East.
Sexual exploitation of children keeps rising yearly according to the available statistic at the National Child Protection Authority.

The Authority states that presently people are more aware of acts of abuse due to the awareness programs carried and the publicity given to the hot line and such acts get reported without being unreported as in the earlier days.

Sri Lanka has a fair percentage of persons with physical disability which could be due to the 30 years of internal conﬂict.
These persons too have a right to the full participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

However the restricted access of such persons to public buildings and public transport is a barrier to their enjoyment of the normal life of the community.

The Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act No28 of 1996 and the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 made therein have provided the necessary legal framework for such persons for the equal enjoyment of the life in the society.
A very wide meaning has also been given to the words ‘Public Building/Structure’ in the Regulations as meaning any government or private sector building used by the public in daily life.

Therefore banks, hospitals shopping centres, supermarkets are all included to have accessibility for the disabled.

However even in the city of Colombo one sees banks and well patronized shopping centres today without any accessibility provision for the disabled.
In Sri Lanka there is a remarkable increase in the ageing population with the increasing life expectancy, improving health care facilities and living standards of the people.

Unfortunately this matter has not been addressed by the planners and policy makers as well as those in the health sector.

There are Day Centres for Elders in several areas which are ﬁnancially supported by the National Secretariat for Elders.
The Social Service Department has trained a home day care service available to the public at very reasonable price but this service needs to be improved to cater to the growing demand.

However there are several private retiring homes and day and night care services which are available to persons who are able to pay a high price for the service.
The level of poverty in Sri Lanka has been reduced considerably by schemes such as the Livelihood Development and Economic Empowerment programs under the Divi Neguma and Samurdi Schemes.

Several cottage industries carried out under the Livelihood Development programs of the Divi Neguma, like the production of candles, joss-sticks, cement blocks, virgin coconut oil help the poor to earn additional income.
Loan Facilities to start various livelihood programmes under the Samurdi Scheme has constantly helped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in case of family bereavements, hospitalization and child births.

In 2012 Sri Lankan economy grew at 6.4% only as compared to the two previous years which witnessed a growth rate of 8 %.
The country has achieved many of MDGs including the halving of poverty, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women ahead of the target year 2015 and is striving hard to achieve a per capita income target of US dollars 4000 in 2016.
However the slow implementation of the LLRC Recommendations has become a matter of concern to many as it was hoped that issues which lead to the 30 year ethnic conﬂict would ﬁnd a solution in the implementation of the Recommendation.

As everyone knows it is only in a peaceful environment that fruits of the massive development programmes currently taking place could be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans both present and future.
right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
• The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
oﬃcers purpose • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of persons the country Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.
Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates E) Measures for Negative Social Issues; • Special mechanism should be formulated for considering problems relating to prisoners’ families (for their best interest, specially regarding the children in schooling age), during the time they are at the remand prison.
• The way people respond to competitive economic, social, cultural or other issues can be changed satisfactorily by formulating various steps regarding their initial background (ex: formal and informal education, cultural and social background etc.).

the impeachment process should be more transparent and more in accord with the principles of democracy.
It must be emphasized that the “latimer” commonwealth principles speciﬁcally provide for the procedure to be adopted when charges are brought against a judge and that such charges should necessarily be inquired by an independent body which could be tied up to the impeachment process.

This appears to be a matter which must be the subject of serious debate/discussion.
It is our considered view that public conﬁdence in the legal system could be sustained only within a framework acceptable through intensive discussion.

It must be conceded that presently we have missed this opportunity.

However it must be emphasized that such a procedure must indeed be followed in the future in the interest of society in general in Sri Lanka.
• Suitable steps should be initiated to change the traditional response of the civil society over Disappeared and Missing persons prisoners, as the prisoners too are a part of their own society.

I) Measures for the Issue of Capital Punishment; and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities in the governance of the Chapter Six FOREIGN FUNDED PROJECTS 6.1.
UN Support to National Human Rights Institutions - UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, 2012 The overarching UN support to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) since 2009 has been conducted through a UN Joint programme on Human Rights which began in November 2009.

This project was launched by the UNDP on the request made by government of Sri Lanka, following their commitment given at the 2008 Human Rights Council meeting to support to upgrade the HRCSL back to grade A.
The main objective of the programme was to provide technical and ﬁnancial support to HRCSL.

This support was targeted towards strengthening operational eﬀectiveness in key areas that were identi- ﬁed by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for National Human Rights Institutions as the reasons for the downgrading of the HRCSL from A to B in 2007 and re aﬃrmed in 2009.
The Joint Programme was implemented by HRCSL with their staﬀ through the head oﬃce and regional oﬃces, with funding and technical support from UNDP and the UN Senior Human Rights Advisor.

In 2012 both OHCHR and UNHCR also contributed funds towards the Joint Programme.
In the reporting period of 2012, the UN Joint Programme continued to support the HRCSL in the areas of their core mandate, including: Strategic vision of the HRCSL – A 21-day capacity assessment (CA) of HRCSL was undertaken by a tripartite team comprised of the Asia Paciﬁc Forum, UNDP regional oﬃce and OHCHR through the Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In follow up to this activity, the UN Joint Programme facilitated the HRCSL in the development of a 3-year strategic plan which was based on the CA recommendations, National Human Rights Action Plan and LLRC recommendations and wide consultations with all staﬀ at national and regional levels of HRCSL.

HRCSL developed their 2012 Action Plan based on the outcomes of this workshop which had the participation of all senior staﬀ of HRCSL.
Through regular meetings between UN senior HR advisor and Commissioners and also participation of UNDP project coordinator in the HRCSL’s central committee meetings, UN has taken eﬀort to constantly communicate their perspective on HRCSL’s activities and functions.

Regional Oﬃces – The UN Joint Programme continued to provide support to the regional oﬃces in the form of technical trainings, provision of equipment, and funding to support legal consultants and engagement with civil society.
Through the Joint Programme, UNHCR supported the establishment of a mobile clinic in Kilinochchi in 2012 which is providing outreach to the former war-aﬀected areas of the north where regional oﬃces have not yet been established.
National policy and legislation – The ﬁrst of a planned series of consultations and a study conference to sensitize Members of Parliament on international human rights laws and standards was organized by a project in the Parliament in December 2012 in collaboration with HRCSL, UN and Parliament.

For the ﬁrst time in the history of Parliament, a full day study conference on Human Rights was held within Parliament with 73 Parliament Members taking part.
This was followed by a dialogue on Human Rights among Members of Parliament, HRCSL Commissioners and UN Country Team.

The project is also working with Parliament to establish a HR select committee.

As a ﬁrst step the project organized an exposure visit for Deputy Speaker and another MP to visit and discuss with HR select committee in Parliament of Philippines and the Speaker.
The project provided technical and funding support for HRCSL to hold a series of consultations at regional and national level on elders’ rights and formulate recommendations for UN OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) on elders’ rights and national policy making authorities.

Engagement with Civil Society – The Project continued support for quarterly dialogues/consultations at national and regional levels that are constructive and inclusive of a broad spectrum of civil society actors.
Though the project was able to support only 2 meetings in 2012 at national level, 34 meetings/consultations were supported by project through the 10 regional oﬃces.

Joint action plans with civil society have been developed by 7 of the regional oﬃces as a result of these consultations and are in operation at regional level.
The project supported HRCSL by developing a training module and conducting 10 numbers of 2 day residential trainings for civil society actors, on their request with support from external experts through regional oﬃces.

The project also supported a 2 day residential training for media personnel and another 3 day training for youth on human rights through HRCSL.
Public reporting – The UN Joint Programme has supported the development of a tri-lingual website for HRCSL and the maintenance of such website, publication of their overdue annual reports, provide assistance to prepare press statements and provided support for their press conferences.
National Project Co-ordinator – Ms Thanuja Navaratne 6.2 UNICEF funded Project A special project on the theme “Increase Conﬁdence of Communities in Reporting and responding to Violations of Children’s Rights was funded by the UNICEF on July 25th 2012.

The project covered six districts and the activities on various thematic areas to fulﬁll the above purpose were conducted by the regional coordinators of the HRCSL.

The following programmes were organized for the year 2012.
The Project Coordinator - Ms Shirani Rajapakse Director Education and Special Projects Chapter Seven STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN YEAR 2012 The necessity to lay emphasis on the concept of supremacy of the law n the present context, the need to protect the supremacy of law is important.

For a healthy, democratic society it is necessary for the 3 organs of government to act with respect and understanding towards each other.

This would help to maintain a healthy relationship.
The action taken in the recent past to remove the Chief Justice from her post was strictly in accordance with the law, however the procedure that was followed in achieving this objective has given rise to issues relating to the concept of the independence of the judiciary.

It would appear that there was a conﬂict between the legislature and the judiciary.
This situation necessarily weakened the conﬁdence placed by the people in the legal system and also came into conﬂict with the aspirations of society relating to the independence and impartiality of these institutions in their day to day work.

This situation has given rise to creating doubts among the people on the question whether the judiciary was capable of acting independently and also whether other institutions are prone to act in such a manner so as to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
The necessity to consider the impeachment of the Chief Justice provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the shortcomings in this regard under the prevailing law, to take steps to rectify such a situation and to introduce a policy in this matter which would necessarily strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

However unfortunately this situation far from achieving this objective highlighted the prevailing policy on this matter between the Judiciary and the State.
This situation also provided a good opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their powers and attract the attention of the public to their own selﬁsh objectives.

As a consequence this golden opportunity to highlight democratic values was lost and an unhealthy situation arose from the point of view of society.
Further, it is imperative that the judiciary of this country must be given every opportunity to maintain its independence at the highest level possible and in this regard it is our considered view that the present law must necessarily be amended with a view to strengthening the concept of judicial independence.

It is indeed essential to ensure that the judiciary is vested with an environment to act without fear and suspicion.
It is our considered view that the procedure to remove a judicial oﬃcer must necessarily be transparent and also be in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice.

It is fairly clear that the present procedure adopted for the purpose of removing a judge and A march by women protesting of missing loved ones was organized jointly by the Committee for Investigating Disappearances and the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.
About 25 women mainly from the North and East took part in this symbolic march along the streets from a Hindu Kovil in Kochchikade to another Hindu Kovil in Gintupitiya.

They carried clay pots with camphor ﬁre in keeping with cultural traditions.

The women prayed and pleaded for information about their husbands, fathers and sons who had gone missing.

Some are known to have been abducted in white vans.

Extra-judicial arrests and abductions are unacceptable in a democracy.
The LLRC Report had also stated “that in many instances it was revealed that formal complaints had been made to police stations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the ICRC.

Yet the next of kin continue to complain that the where about of many of these missing persons are still unknown.

The government is duty bound to direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and perpetrators brought to justice.
It is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of any person who is taken into custody by governmental authorities through surrender or arrest.

Comment The Government has come up with a number of policies and action plans that include the National Policy on Social Integration, and the National Human Rights Action Plan on implementing the recommendation of the LLRC.

The National Action Plan on the LLRC recommendations has to be implemented with sincerity.
Implementing these recommendations would go a long way towards promoting national unity and peace.

The government must ignore chauvinistic and extreme nationalist elements within and without and go ahead to usher in an era of peace, stability and growth in the country.

Most importantly, the rule of law must be protected and there should not be any place for vindictiveness and revenge.
Sri Lanka has existed as a social welfare state even before it attained independence in 1948 as successive governments in the country had adopted social welfare measures in the administration of the country.
This could be attributed to movements like the Suriya Mal campaigns that were originally started to provide for the betterment of the underprivileged classes of the society in the mid 1930 s. Therefore today though no legislation has been passed by the Parliament to give legal eﬀect to the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights unlike in the case of civil and political rights which are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in Chapter III of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution provide for the implementation of social welfare measures for the beneﬁt of the people.
Thus these Principles state that the legislature and the executive shall be guided by the objective of promotion of social and economic welfare of the people by securing an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions country.

During the year 2012 the massive infrastructure development of the country that was started after the cessation of the internal conﬂict in 2009 continued.
In Sri Lanka 80% of the people still live in villages and in plantation areas.

Therefore the road networks, power, water, irrigation, schools, maternal clinics have been included in the Gama Neguma village development programme.
In the year 2012 a program was also launched where Rs one million was given to construct / develop any one project in each village in the island under the scheme ‘ Gamakata eke wedakka’ (one project for one village) It was found that when mega development projects were carried out in various parts of the country there were a number of small towns which were striving hard to keep pace with the development drive taking place in other parts of the country.
Therefore a program to develop 108 small towns that come under underdeveloped Pradeshiya Sabhas across the country was launched under the name ‘Pura Neguma’ this year to be completede by the year 1015.
Under this programme the respective Pradeshiya Sabhas have to develop the infrastructure facilities in these towns such as public toilets, vehicle parks including three wheel parks, market complexes, weekly fair areas, Pradeshiya Sabha buildings, libraries, childrens parks, access roads, drinking water and resting places.
Pura Neguma is implemnted in the Pradeshiya Sabhas outside the North and East as the Economic Development Ministry is launching programs in those areas focusing on the same matters Urban development gained a high momentum in the year 2012 as many projects that improved the quality of urban environment were initiated and completed.

The objective of these developments is to provide a holistic living and a working environment for the country.
Therefore public utilities, recreational facilities and urban beautiﬁcation programmes were given much importance in the year with emphasis being placed on Colombo and its suburbs.

During this year several lower middle class housing condominiums that had been constructed over 30 years ago and were in dilapidated conditions were renovated beneﬁting more than 18,000 dwellers.

The upgrading of non-permanent residences under NHDA Programs which started a few years ago continued during the year 2012.
Several luxury housing complexes are also being constructed for high income earners by the private sector with foreign collaboration.

A number of housing schemes have been launched in the North and the East to ﬁnd permanent housing for displaced persons.

In the North special loans under a foreign funded project were given to displaced families and the construction of houses was done through a participatory approach, thus enhancing the resettlement eﬀorts of the government.
With urbanization and change of lifestyle of the people the demand for pipe born water is also rising in all cities.

All people have to be provided with clean drinking water and in drawing up plans for the development of towns and cities the provision of for rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities have been made compulsory The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is 90.8% as primary and secondary education has been free and compulsory for over 40 years.
Even university education is free in the state universities.

The state policy is to teach both Sinhala and Tamil in schools thus promoting ethnic harmony from the young days.

However the lack of qualiﬁed teachers for this project is causing problems at present.

Emphasis is also placed on teaching English and computer education in schools.

In 2012 a project to develop 1000 secondary schools across the island was launched.
The Ministry of Education entered into several joint ventures with the private sector to improve the IT knowledge of students in these schools.

Thus in one venture with The State Trading Corporation and the Etiselat Company, one thousand laptops with internet facilities were provided, the main objective of venture being to provide school children with subject knowledge via internet from teachers approved by the National Institute of Education.
In another venture with Intel Sri Lanka the teachers in schools who had been already trained by Intel Sri Lanka, were being helped to integrate ICT into their lessons and empower the students to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

The continued work stoppage activities of the University teachers hindered the studies of students.
The severe lack of accommodation in state universities as only 22,000 of the 150,000 students who get qualiﬁed for admission are unable to secure placement in the universities remains unsolved.

In addition the Universities are faced with the admission of a further 5800 students due to the Z score issue.
The government has stated very categorically that state universities will not be privatized but is agreeable to recognize quality private education in Sri Lanka so that the ﬂow of foreign exchange out of the country could be saved.

Thus the private medical college at Malabe continues with a new teaching Hospital as the students were unable to get the required training in state hospitals due to objection by the doctors union.
Only 29% of the Arts graduates are employed compared to 95% Engineering graduates and 90% of MBBS graduates who have secured employment.

Therefore a proposal to change the composition of the BA degree subjects with emphasis on languages like Sinhala, Tamil and English is being studied.

Life expectancy of Sri Lankan women and men has increased to 80 and 76 years respectively, thus reﬂecting an improvement in the health care services and living standards of the people.
In Sri Lanka State hospitals and health clinics are free and accessible to all persons including even foreigners.

There are 593 government hospitals in the island with 73,437 beds .

A recent survey has revealed that 20% 3 of hospital beds are occupied by patients fallen ill due to use of tobacco and alcohol and 72% of illnesses in the country are NCDs which are mainly related to tobacco and alcohol.
The attempt to have a warning against smoking in picture form so that it will be a more eﬀective than the already existing written warning on the box of cigarettes was heavily opposed by the cigarette dealers who have taken the matter to courts and the Health Ministry is awaiting a decision by the courts.

There is an alarming increase of Non Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, cardio vascular diseases, strokes etc.
The major risk factors for NCDs are considered unhealthy dietary habits, job stress, physical inactivity.

Therefore the Ministry of Health has been actively engaged in the promotion of an awareness campaign of the value of eating proper food and exercise for a healthy life among school children, youth and the general public.

Communicable diseases such as dengue, ﬁllaria and recently malaria which was almost eradicated a few years back also still remain a public concern.
In September 2012 Jaﬀna peninsula was connected to the national grid after 25 years.

The Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Plant was added to the national grid during the current year.

The steps are also taken to construct over 100 mini hydro power projects with the aim of making the national grid a system where electricity is provided by the public.

Already the private sector operates around 100 mini hydro power projects in the country.
Construction works of the second phase of Norochcholai and the new coal plant at Sampur are in progress.

As the cost of electricity has been going up yearly, the search alternative energy sources such as solar power, sea waves, wind and nano technology related energy continues.

Already 74 MW wind power,11.5 MW biomass energy and 1.4 MW solar is connected to the national grid4 .
The ﬁrst Dendro (gliricidia) energy power plant situated at Anuradhapura, began feeding 500 KW to the national grid in July 2012 The“ Divi Neguma” National Program that was launched in March 2011 was aimed to provide food security, eradicate hunger and poverty and help improve the nutritional standards of the people.

In 2012 this programme has had tremendous success in all areas especially agriculture, livestock, industrial and in the ﬁsheries sector.
The progrmme has been implemented in all 25 districts and coconut saplings, vegetable seeds, fruit plants herbal plants, minor export crops etc have been distributed to the selected households.

Resources to commence projects such as growing mushrooms, bee keeping, growing ornamental ﬂowers etc have also been provided.

Steps have been taken to promote people to grow certain crops that can be grown in Sri Lanka but is at present being imported from foreign countries.
These crops are green gram, peanuts, dry chillies, soya, maize.

Already Sri Lanka has started exporting maize.

The distribution of chicks and milch cows under this program has helped to improve the nutrition of the family while improving their incomes.

It has been found that milk production can be increased by keeping cows in a restricted area (cowsheds) and feeding them systematically and 5292 cow sheds were constructed for this purpose.
Goat herding has also achieved considerable progress under this program in 2012.

Over 6000 ﬁsheries projects have implemented in the year and as a result fresh ﬁsh is available in the estate sector in Nuwara Eliya district.

It has been reported that estate labourers run to work in their ﬁsh ponds after their routine work instead of going to liquor bars.

Human smuggling was a major concern in the year 2012 with over 2000 being arrested trying to gain illegal entry to Australia.
It was found that people of Sinhala, Tamil and Moor origins were all induced to seek greener pastures and the process was operated by a network whose local agents promoted the innocent people to go on these risky voyages.

However with the Australian Government taking strong action and diverting boats ﬁrst to the Christmas Island and later to Papua New Guinea there seems to be a slowing down of the process.
In society women, children, migrant workers, physically and mentally handicapped and the aged are considered vulnerable groups who are in need of special care and attention.

In the year 2012 though there were many acts of violence against women reported in the media the such acts as a whole did not reach the levels reported in 2011.

However reported cases of violence against migrant women showed a marked increase in the current year.
This resulted in the Ministry of Foreign Employment taking several steps such as raising the age to 25 years in case of domestic employment in certain Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and also requiring the prospective employer to deposit US $ 1000 in respective of each prospective employee before the contract is signed.

The government proposes to completely stop the migration of unskilled female domestic labour in a few years time.
According to the 2012 statistics of the SLFEB the ratio of women to men are 49% to 51%.

Sri Lanka is has failed to ﬁll skilled female job cadres in the Gulf countries such as trained baby sitters, nannies, nurses, sales girls.

Therefore it is time that the government organizes training programs to cater to such job demands though like in the case of nurses there is a reluctance to seek employment in the Middle East.
Sexual exploitation of children keeps rising yearly according to the available statistic at the National Child Protection Authority.

The Authority states that presently people are more aware of acts of abuse due to the awareness programs carried and the publicity given to the hot line and such acts get reported without being unreported as in the earlier days.

Sri Lanka has a fair percentage of persons with physical disability which could be due to the 30 years of internal conﬂict.
These persons too have a right to the full participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

However the restricted access of such persons to public buildings and public transport is a barrier to their enjoyment of the normal life of the community.

The Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act No28 of 1996 and the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 made therein have provided the necessary legal framework for such persons for the equal enjoyment of the life in the society.
A very wide meaning has also been given to the words ‘Public Building/Structure’ in the Regulations as meaning any government or private sector building used by the public in daily 51 life.

Therefore banks, hospitals shopping centres, supermarkets are all included to have accessibility for the disabled.

However even in the city of Colombo one sees banks and well patronized shopping centres today without any accessibility provision for the disabled.
In Sri Lanka there is a remarkable increase in the ageing population with the increasing life expectancy, improving health care facilities and living standards of the people.

Unfortunately this matter has not been addressed by the planners and policy makers as well as those in the health sector.

There are Day Centres for Elders in several areas which are ﬁnancially supported by the National Secretariat for Elders.
The Social Service Department has trained a home day care service available to the public at very reasonable price but this service needs to be improved to cater to the growing demand.

However there are several private retiring homes and day and night care services which are available to persons who are able to pay a high price for the service.
The level of poverty in Sri Lanka has been reduced considerably by schemes such as the Livelihood Development and Economic Empowerment programs under the Divi Neguma and Samurdi Schemes.

Several cottage industries carried out under the Livelihood Development programs of the Divi Neguma, like the production of candles, joss-sticks, cement blocks, virgin coconut oil help the poor to earn additional income.
Loan Facilities to start various livelihood programmes under the Samurdi Scheme has constantly helped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in case of family bereavements, hospitalization and child births.

In 2012 Sri Lankan economy grew at 6.4% only as compared to the two previous years which witnessed a growth rate of 8 %.
The country has achieved many of MDGs including the halving of poverty, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women ahead of the target year 2015 and is striving hard to achieve a per capita income target of US dollars 4000 in 2016.
However the slow implementation of the LLRC Recommendations has become a matter of concern to many as it was hoped that issues which lead to the 30 year ethnic conﬂict would ﬁnd a solution in the implementation of the Recommendation.

As everyone knows it is only in a peaceful environment that fruits of the massive development programmes currently taking place could be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans both present and future.
right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
• The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
oﬃcers purpose • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of persons the country Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.
Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates E) Measures for Negative Social Issues; • Special mechanism should be formulated for considering problems relating to prisoners’ families (for their best interest, specially regarding the children in schooling age), during the time they are at the remand prison.
• The way people respond to competitive economic, social, cultural or other issues can be changed satisfactorily by formulating various steps regarding their initial background (ex: formal and informal education, cultural and social background etc.).

the impeachment process should be more transparent and more in accord with the principles of democracy.
It must be emphasized that the “latimer” commonwealth principles speciﬁcally provide for the procedure to be adopted when charges are brought against a judge and that such charges should necessarily be inquired by an independent body which could be tied up to the impeachment process.

This appears to be a matter which must be the subject of serious debate/discussion.
It is our considered view that public conﬁdence in the legal system could be sustained only within a framework acceptable through intensive discussion.

It must be conceded that presently we have missed this opportunity.

However it must be emphasized that such a procedure must indeed be followed in the future in the interest of society in general in Sri Lanka.
• Suitable steps should be initiated to change the traditional response of the civil society over Disappeared and Missing persons prisoners, as the prisoners too are a part of their own society.

I) Measures for the Issue of Capital Punishment; and the full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities in the governance of the Chapter Six FOREIGN FUNDED PROJECTS 6.1.
UN Support to National Human Rights Institutions - UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, Sri Lanka, 2012 The overarching UN support to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) since 2009 has been conducted through a UN Joint programme on Human Rights which began in November 2009.

This project was launched by the UNDP on the request made by government of Sri Lanka, following their commitment given at the 2008 Human Rights Council meeting to support to upgrade the HRCSL back to grade A.
The main objective of the programme was to provide technical and ﬁnancial support to HRCSL.

This support was targeted towards strengthening operational eﬀectiveness in key areas that were identi- ﬁed by the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) for National Human Rights Institutions as the reasons for the downgrading of the HRCSL from A to B in 2007 and re aﬃrmed in 2009.
The Joint Programme was implemented by HRCSL with their staﬀ through the head oﬃce and regional oﬃces, with funding and technical support from UNDP and the UN Senior Human Rights Advisor.

In 2012 both OHCHR and UNHCR also contributed funds towards the Joint Programme.
In the reporting period of 2012, the UN Joint Programme continued to support the HRCSL in the areas of their core mandate, including: Strategic vision of the HRCSL – A 21-day capacity assessment (CA) of HRCSL was undertaken by a tripartite team comprised of the Asia Paciﬁc Forum, UNDP regional oﬃce and OHCHR through the Senior Human Rights Advisor.
In follow up to this activity, the UN Joint Programme facilitated the HRCSL in the development of a 3-year strategic plan which was based on the CA recommendations, National Human Rights Action Plan and LLRC recommendations and wide consultations with all staﬀ at national and regional levels of HRCSL.

HRCSL developed their 2012 Action Plan based on the outcomes of this workshop which had the participation of all senior staﬀ of HRCSL.
Through regular meetings between UN senior HR advisor and Commissioners and also participation of UNDP project coordinator in the HRCSL’s central committee meetings, UN has taken eﬀort to constantly communicate their perspective on HRCSL’s activities and functions.

Regional Oﬃces – The UN Joint Programme continued to provide support to the regional oﬃces in the form of technical trainings, provision of equipment, and funding to support legal consultants and engagement with civil society.
Through the Joint Programme, UNHCR supported the establishment of a mobile clinic in Kilinochchi in 2012 which is providing outreach to the former war-aﬀected areas of the north where regional oﬃces have not yet been established.
National policy and legislation – The ﬁrst of a planned series of consultations and a study conference to sensitize Members of Parliament on international human rights laws and standards was organized by a project in the Parliament in December 2012 in collaboration with HRCSL, UN and Parliament.

For the ﬁrst time in the history of Parliament, a full day study conference on Human Rights was held within Parliament with 73 Parliament Members taking part.
This was followed by a dialogue on Human Rights among Members of Parliament, HRCSL Commissioners and UN Country Team.

The project is also working with Parliament to establish a HR select committee.

As a ﬁrst step the project organized an exposure visit for Deputy Speaker and another MP to visit and discuss with HR select committee in Parliament of Philippines and the Speaker.
The project provided technical and funding support for HRCSL to hold a series of consultations at regional and national level on elders’ rights and formulate recommendations for UN OEWG (Open Ended Working Group) on elders’ rights and national policy making authorities.

Engagement with Civil Society – The Project continued support for quarterly dialogues/consultations at national and regional levels that are constructive and inclusive of a broad spectrum of civil society actors.
Though the project was able to support only 2 meetings in 2012 at national level, 34 meetings/consultations were supported by project through the 10 regional oﬃces.

Joint action plans with civil society have been developed by 7 of the regional oﬃces as a result of these consultations and are in operation at regional level.
The project supported HRCSL by developing a training module and conducting 10 numbers of 2 day residential trainings for civil society actors, on their request with support from external experts through regional oﬃces.

The project also supported a 2 day residential training for media personnel and another 3 day training for youth on human rights through HRCSL.
Public reporting – The UN Joint Programme has supported the development of a tri-lingual website for HRCSL and the maintenance of such website, publication of their overdue annual reports, provide assistance to prepare press statements and provided support for their press conferences.
National Project Co-ordinator – Ms Thanuja Navaratne 6.2 UNICEF funded Project A special project on the theme “Increase Conﬁdence of Communities in Reporting and responding to Violations of Children’s Rights was funded by the UNICEF on July 25th 2012.

The project covered six districts and the activities on various thematic areas to fulﬁll the above purpose were conducted by the regional coordinators of the HRCSL.

The following programmes were organized for the year 2012.
The Project Coordinator - Ms Shirani Rajapakse Director Education and Special Projects Chapter Seven STATUS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN YEAR 2012 The necessity to lay emphasis on the concept of supremacy of the law n the present context, the need to protect the supremacy of law is important.

For a healthy, democratic society it is necessary for the 3 organs of government to act with respect and understanding towards each other.

This would help to maintain a healthy relationship.
The action taken in the recent past to remove the Chief Justice from her post was strictly in accordance with the law, however the procedure that was followed in achieving this objective has given rise to issues relating to the concept of the independence of the judiciary.

It would appear that there was a conﬂict between the legislature and the judiciary.
This situation necessarily weakened the conﬁdence placed by the people in the legal system and also came into conﬂict with the aspirations of society relating to the independence and impartiality of these institutions in their day to day work.

This situation has given rise to creating doubts among the people on the question whether the judiciary was capable of acting independently and also whether other institutions are prone to act in such a manner so as to weaken the independence of the judiciary.
The necessity to consider the impeachment of the Chief Justice provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the shortcomings in this regard under the prevailing law, to take steps to rectify such a situation and to introduce a policy in this matter which would necessarily strengthen the independence of the judiciary.

However unfortunately this situation far from achieving this objective highlighted the prevailing policy on this matter between the Judiciary and the State.
This situation also provided a good opportunity for political parties to demonstrate their powers and attract the attention of the public to their own selﬁsh objectives.

As a consequence this golden opportunity to highlight democratic values was lost and an unhealthy situation arose from the point of view of society.
Further, it is imperative that the judiciary of this country must be given every opportunity to maintain its independence at the highest level possible and in this regard it is our considered view that the present law must necessarily be amended with a view to strengthening the concept of judicial independence.

It is indeed essential to ensure that the judiciary is vested with an environment to act without fear and suspicion.
It is our considered view that the procedure to remove a judicial oﬃcer must necessarily be transparent and also be in accordance with the accepted principles of natural justice.

It is fairly clear that the present procedure adopted for the purpose of removing a judge and A march by women protesting of missing loved ones was organized jointly by the Committee for Investigating Disappearances and the Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners.
About 25 women mainly from the North and East took part in this symbolic march along the streets from a Hindu Kovil in Kochchikade to another Hindu Kovil in Gintupitiya.

They carried clay pots with camphor ﬁre in keeping with cultural traditions.

The women prayed and pleaded for information about their husbands, fathers and sons who had gone missing.

Some are known to have been abducted in white vans.

Extra-judicial arrests and abductions are unacceptable in a democracy.
The LLRC Report had also stated “that in many instances it was revealed that formal complaints had been made to police stations, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the ICRC.

Yet the next of kin continue to complain that the where about of many of these missing persons are still unknown.

The government is duty bound to direct the law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that these allegations are properly investigated into and perpetrators brought to justice.
It is the state’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of any person who is taken into custody by governmental authorities through surrender or arrest.

Comment The Government has come up with a number of policies and action plans that include the National Policy on Social Integration, and the National Human Rights Action Plan on implementing the recommendation of the LLRC.

The National Action Plan on the LLRC recommendations has to be implemented with sincerity.
Implementing these recommendations would go a long way towards promoting national unity and peace.

The government must ignore chauvinistic and extreme nationalist elements within and without and go ahead to usher in an era of peace, stability and growth in the country.

Most importantly, the rule of law must be protected and there should not be any place for vindictiveness and revenge.
Sri Lanka has existed as a social welfare state even before it attained independence in 1948 as successive governments in the country had adopted social welfare measures in the administration of the country.
This could be attributed to movements like the Suriya Mal campaigns that were originally started to provide for the betterment of the underprivileged classes of the society in the mid 1930 s. Therefore today though no legislation has been passed by the Parliament to give legal eﬀect to the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights unlike in the case of civil and political rights which are enshrined as Fundamental Rights in Chapter III of the Constitution, the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Duties as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution provide for the implementation of social welfare measures for the beneﬁt of the people.
Thus these Principles state that the legislature and the executive shall be guided by the objective of promotion of social and economic welfare of the people by securing an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing and the continuous improvement of living conditions country.

During the year 2012 the massive infrastructure development of the country that was started after the cessation of the internal conﬂict in 2009 continued.
In Sri Lanka 80% of the people still live in villages and in plantation areas.

Therefore the road networks, power, water, irrigation, schools, maternal clinics have been included in the Gama Neguma village development programme.
In the year 2012 a program was also launched where Rs one million was given to construct / develop any one project in each village in the island under the scheme ‘ Gamakata eke wedakka’ (one project for one village) It was found that when mega development projects were carried out in various parts of the country there were a number of small towns which were striving hard to keep pace with the development drive taking place in other parts of the country.
Therefore a program to develop 108 small towns that come under underdeveloped Pradeshiya Sabhas across the country was launched under the name ‘Pura Neguma’ this year to be completede by the year 1015.
Under this programme the respective Pradeshiya Sabhas have to develop the infrastructure facilities in these towns such as public toilets, vehicle parks including three wheel parks, market complexes, weekly fair areas, Pradeshiya Sabha buildings, libraries, childrens parks, access roads, drinking water and resting places.
Pura Neguma is implemnted in the Pradeshiya Sabhas outside the North and East as the Economic Development Ministry is launching programs in those areas focusing on the same matters Urban development gained a high momentum in the year 2012 as many projects that improved the quality of urban environment were initiated and completed.

The objective of these developments is to provide a holistic living and a working environment for the country.
Therefore public utilities, recreational facilities and urban beautiﬁcation programmes were given much importance in the year with emphasis being placed on Colombo and its suburbs.

During this year several lower middle class housing condominiums that had been constructed over 30 years ago and were in dilapidated conditions were renovated beneﬁting more than 18,000 dwellers.

The upgrading of non-permanent residences under NHDA Programs which started a few years ago continued during the year 2012.
Several luxury housing complexes are also being constructed for high income earners by the private sector with foreign collaboration.

A number of housing schemes have been launched in the North and the East to ﬁnd permanent housing for displaced persons.

In the North special loans under a foreign funded project were given to displaced families and the construction of houses was done through a participatory approach, thus enhancing the resettlement eﬀorts of the government.
With urbanization and change of lifestyle of the people the demand for pipe born water is also rising in all cities.

All people have to be provided with clean drinking water and in drawing up plans for the development of towns and cities the provision of for rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities have been made compulsory The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is 90.8% as primary and secondary education has been free and compulsory for over 40 years.
Even university education is free in the state universities.

The state policy is to teach both Sinhala and Tamil in schools thus promoting ethnic harmony from the young days.

However the lack of qualiﬁed teachers for this project is causing problems at present.

Emphasis is also placed on teaching English and computer education in schools.

In 2012 a project to develop 1000 secondary schools across the island was launched.
The Ministry of Education entered into several joint ventures with the private sector to improve the IT knowledge of students in these schools.

Thus in one venture with The State Trading Corporation and the Etiselat Company, one thousand laptops with internet facilities were provided, the main objective of venture being to provide school children with subject knowledge via internet from teachers approved by the National Institute of Education.
In another venture with Intel Sri Lanka the teachers in schools who had been already trained by Intel Sri Lanka, were being helped to integrate ICT into their lessons and empower the students to keep abreast with the rest of the world.

The continued work stoppage activities of the University teachers hindered the studies of students.
The severe lack of accommodation in state universities as only 22,000 of the 150,000 students who get qualiﬁed for admission are unable to secure placement in the universities remains unsolved.

In addition the Universities are faced with the admission of a further 5800 students due to the Z score issue.
The government has stated very categorically that state universities will not be privatized but is agreeable to recognize quality private education in Sri Lanka so that the ﬂow of foreign exchange out of the country could be saved.

Thus the private medical college at Malabe continues with a new teaching Hospital as the students were unable to get the required training in state hospitals due to objection by the doctors union.
Only 29% of the Arts graduates are employed compared to 95% Engineering graduates and 90% of MBBS graduates who have secured employment.

Therefore a proposal to change the composition of the BA degree subjects with emphasis on languages like Sinhala, Tamil and English is being studied.

Life expectancy of Sri Lankan women and men has increased to 80 and 76 years respectively, thus reﬂecting an improvement in the health care services and living standards of the people.
In Sri Lanka State hospitals and health clinics are free and accessible to all persons including even foreigners.

There are 593 government hospitals in the island with 73,437 beds .

A recent survey has revealed that 20% 3 of hospital beds are occupied by patients fallen ill due to use of tobacco and alcohol and 72% of illnesses in the country are NCDs which are mainly related to tobacco and alcohol.
The attempt to have a warning against smoking in picture form so that it will be a more eﬀective than the already existing written warning on the box of cigarettes was heavily opposed by the cigarette dealers who have taken the matter to courts and the Health Ministry is awaiting a decision by the courts.

There is an alarming increase of Non Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, cardio vascular diseases, strokes etc.
The major risk factors for NCDs are considered unhealthy dietary habits, job stress, physical inactivity.

Therefore the Ministry of Health has been actively engaged in the promotion of an awareness campaign of the value of eating proper food and exercise for a healthy life among school children, youth and the general public.

Communicable diseases such as dengue, ﬁllaria and recently malaria which was almost eradicated a few years back also still remain a public concern.
In September 2012 Jaﬀna peninsula was connected to the national grid after 25 years.

The Upper Kothmale Hydro Power Plant was added to the national grid during the current year.

The steps are also taken to construct over 100 mini hydro power projects with the aim of making the national grid a system where electricity is provided by the public.

Already the private sector operates around 100 mini hydro power projects in the country.
Construction works of the second phase of Norochcholai and the new coal plant at Sampur are in progress.

As the cost of electricity has been going up yearly, the search alternative energy sources such as solar power, sea waves, wind and nano technology related energy continues.

Already 74 MW wind power,11.5 MW biomass energy and 1.4 MW solar is connected to the national grid4 .
The ﬁrst Dendro (gliricidia) energy power plant situated at Anuradhapura, began feeding 500 KW to the national grid in July 2012 The“ Divi Neguma” National Program that was launched in March 2011 was aimed to provide food security, eradicate hunger and poverty and help improve the nutritional standards of the people.

In 2012 this programme has had tremendous success in all areas especially agriculture, livestock, industrial and in the ﬁsheries sector.
The progrmme has been implemented in all 25 districts and coconut saplings, vegetable seeds, fruit plants herbal plants, minor export crops etc have been distributed to the selected households.

Resources to commence projects such as growing mushrooms, bee keeping, growing ornamental ﬂowers etc have also been provided.

Steps have been taken to promote people to grow certain crops that can be grown in Sri Lanka but is at present being imported from foreign countries.
These crops are green gram, peanuts, dry chillies, soya, maize.

Already Sri Lanka has started exporting maize.

The distribution of chicks and milch cows under this program has helped to improve the nutrition of the family while improving their incomes.

It has been found that milk production can be increased by keeping cows in a restricted area (cowsheds) and feeding them systematically and 5292 cow sheds were constructed for this purpose.
Goat herding has also achieved considerable progress under this program in 2012.

Over 6000 ﬁsheries projects have implemented in the year and as a result fresh ﬁsh is available in the estate sector in Nuwara Eliya district.

It has been reported that estate labourers run to work in their ﬁsh ponds after their routine work instead of going to liquor bars.

Human smuggling was a major concern in the year 2012 with over 2000 being arrested trying to gain illegal entry to Australia.
It was found that people of Sinhala, Tamil and Moor origins were all induced to seek greener pastures and the process was operated by a network whose local agents promoted the innocent people to go on these risky voyages.

However with the Australian Government taking strong action and diverting boats ﬁrst to the Christmas Island and later to Papua New Guinea there seems to be a slowing down of the process.
In society women, children, migrant workers, physically and mentally handicapped and the aged are considered vulnerable groups who are in need of special care and attention.

In the year 2012 though there were many acts of violence against women reported in the media the such acts as a whole did not reach the levels reported in 2011.

However reported cases of violence against migrant women showed a marked increase in the current year.
This resulted in the Ministry of Foreign Employment taking several steps such as raising the age to 25 years in case of domestic employment in certain Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan and also requiring the prospective employer to deposit US $ 1000 in respective of each prospective employee before the contract is signed.

The government proposes to completely stop the migration of unskilled female domestic labour in a few years time.
According to the 2012 statistics of the SLFEB the ratio of women to men are 49% to 51%.

Sri Lanka is has failed to ﬁll skilled female job cadres in the Gulf countries such as trained baby sitters, nannies, nurses, sales girls.

Therefore it is time that the government organizes training programs to cater to such job demands though like in the case of nurses there is a reluctance to seek employment in the Middle East.
Sexual exploitation of children keeps rising yearly according to the available statistic at the National Child Protection Authority.

The Authority states that presently people are more aware of acts of abuse due to the awareness programs carried and the publicity given to the hot line and such acts get reported without being unreported as in the earlier days.

Sri Lanka has a fair percentage of persons with physical disability which could be due to the 30 years of internal conﬂict.
These persons too have a right to the full participation in the social, economic and cultural life of the community.

However the restricted access of such persons to public buildings and public transport is a barrier to their enjoyment of the normal life of the community.

The Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act No28 of 1996 and the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 made therein have provided the necessary legal framework for such persons for the equal enjoyment of the life in the society.
A very wide meaning has also been given to the words ‘Public Building/Structure’ in the Regulations as meaning any government or private sector building used by the public in daily life.

Therefore banks, hospitals shopping centres, supermarkets are all included to have accessibility for the disabled.

However even in the city of Colombo one sees banks and well patronized shopping centres today without any accessibility provision for the disabled.
In Sri Lanka there is a remarkable increase in the ageing population with the increasing life expectancy, improving health care facilities and living standards of the people.

Unfortunately this matter has not been addressed by the planners and policy makers as well as those in the health sector.

There are Day Centres for Elders in several areas which are ﬁnancially supported by the National Secretariat for Elders.
The Social Service Department has trained a home day care service available to the public at very reasonable price but this service needs to be improved to cater to the growing demand.

However there are several private retiring homes and day and night care services which are available to persons who are able to pay a high price for the service.
The level of poverty in Sri Lanka has been reduced considerably by schemes such as the Livelihood Development and Economic Empowerment programs under the Divi Neguma and Samurdi Schemes.

Several cottage industries carried out under the Livelihood Development programs of the Divi Neguma, like the production of candles, joss-sticks, cement blocks, virgin coconut oil help the poor to earn additional income.
Loan Facilities to start various livelihood programmes under the Samurdi Scheme has constantly helped to reduce the vulnerability of the poor in case of family bereavements, hospitalization and child births.

In 2012 Sri Lankan economy grew at 6.4% only as compared to the two previous years which witnessed a growth rate of 8 %.
The country has achieved many of MDGs including the halving of poverty, achieving of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality, empowerment of women ahead of the target year 2015 and is striving hard to achieve a per capita income target of US dollars 4000 in 2016.
However the slow implementation of the LLRC Recommendations has become a matter of concern to many as it was hoped that issues which lead to the 30 year ethnic conﬂict would ﬁnd a solution in the implementation of the Recommendation.

As everyone knows it is only in a peaceful environment that fruits of the massive development programmes currently taking place could be enjoyed by all Sri Lankans both present and future.
52 right to information is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution the Supreme Court in the case of the Environmental Foundation Ltd vs UDA (Galle Face Green case) SCRF No 47/2004 stated that the right to freedom of speech and expression may include the right to information that would enable a person to eﬀectively exercise rights in respect of a matter that is of public interest.
It has to be noted that the four State Institutions had failed to follow the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 and the regulations gazetted therein, the UDA Law No 41 of 1993, the various gazettes therein especially relating the approval of development projects relating to Pradeshiya Sabha etc.
B) Recommendations The 1st, 2nd ,3rd and the 4th Respondents have violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner contained in Article 12(1) of the Constitution in that he has been deprived of the equal protection of the law and the provisions contained in Article 14(1) and also has been deprived of his freedom of information to eﬀectively exercise his rights in matters connected to Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd. and MelwireRolling Ltd.which which are matters of public interest.
Therefore HRCSL declares that the fundamental rights of the petitioner guaranteed in Articles 12(1) and 14(1) of the Constitution have been violated by the 1st to the 4th Respondents.
It is recommended that the licences granted to the following institutions be suspended until the Central Environmental Authority conducts a proper evaluation and assessment; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd It is recommended that the SLLRDC investigates whether the factory of Melwire Rolling Ltd at Temple Road Ekala is situated within the reservation of JaEla waterway, which has been declared a low lying marshland and as such prohibited from being developed.
Therefore the approval granted Melwire Rolling Ltd is to be suspended until a proper evaluation report by the SLLRDC is tendered.

C) HRCSL notes the following matters of importance; 1.

The Sri Lanka Asbestos at No30 Minuwangoda Road, Ja-Ela is operating without an EPL (Environment Protection Licence ) as such licence has not been renewed 2.

The Rhino Rooﬁng Products factory at No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road Ja Ela which is manufacturing Zinc Aluminnium sheets is operating without an EPL.

3.
The Melwire Rolling Ltd is operating an iron and steel factory at Temple Road Ekala without obtaining any authority from any state institution named as Respondents Therefore it is recommended to suspend the production activities of the following institutions until proper license and approvals; 1) 2) Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd Sri Lanka Asbestos Ltd 3) Melwire Rolling Ltd Further in terms of Section15 of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No 21 of 1996 the Commission directs the Respondents to send a report back to the HRC on or before 31.01.2012 informing the Commission, of the steps taken by them to implement the Recommendation.
4.1.2.

Special Interventions on Kattankudy Incident Two girls natives of Kattankudy, one aged 17 yrs and the other 18 years had gone to Batticoloa town in search of ﬁnding a teacher to get tuition as such teacher was not available at Kattankudy.

As the teacher was not there the two girls had gone to a cyber café and a person who had seen them returning from the cyber café had telephoned a friend in Kattankudy that they were returning from an internet café after watching blue ﬁlms.
Upon arrival at Kattankudy by bus several youths on motor cycles had started chasing them and casting obscene remarks after which they have been abducted and taken in a trishaw to a house.

At this place two women had removed their clothes and examined them and thereafter subjected them to torture and inhuman treatment.
Thereafter the youths had taken the two girls to the Kattankudy Federation of All Muslim Organizations and Mosques (hereinafter referred as the Federation in this report) and handed them over to the people there.

At this place too the girls had been assaulted, scolded in ﬁlthy language and kept for 4 hours.
During this time a large crowd had been collecting around the Federation and the police using tear gas amidst a protesting crowd of more than 1000 people had taken charge of the girls for their protection.

After recording the statements of the two girls at the Kattankudy police station, the police admitted the girls to the Batticoloa Hospital and provided security for them.

The girls received treatment at the hospital for three days and after that they were kept in a children’s Home for 7 days.
Thereafter the courts handed over the girls to their parents.

In the plaint ﬁled in the courts it had been recorded that the girls had been subjected to great physical and mental abuse and as such they were unable to carry on their ordinary day to day activities.

A complaint relating to the incident received at the HRC Regional Oﬃce, Batticoloa was referred to the Head Oﬃce for necessary action.
It was alleged in the complaint that though the Kattankudy police had taken legal action in this case there were still several other suspects who should have been arrested and produced before courts.

In this petition both the Kattankudy police and oﬃcials of the Kattankudy Federation were made respondents.

The HRC summoned the police and asked them to ask them to produce the suspects who had not been arrested before courts soon.
Thereafter the police informed that all other suspects have been arrested and produced before courts.

The actions of the Federations members had violated the rights of the two girls which are so implicitly embodied in the various Articles of Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as one girl was 17 yrs old.
However the HRCSL was not able to take any action under the Act as the actions of these oﬃcials of the Federation do not come within the deﬁnition of ‘administrative or executive’ action.

In these circumstances it was necessary for the HRCSL to take certain steps to protect the rights of women and children that have been so grossly violated as a result of this incident.
Therefore a discussion was held between the Secretary (Legal) and the Federation oﬃcials at which the Commission informed the oﬃcials that no negative social implications should take place in respect of the two girls and that suitable environment should be created for them to carry on their daily activities.
As it was revealed at the discussion that there were youths in the area who are disrespectful to law, the Commission intimated to the Federation the need to educate the public on the maintenance of law and order.

The Federation undertook to conduct workshops to educate the youth.
A second meeting was held at the Batticaloa regional oﬃce with a Commissioner of the HRC, oﬃcials of the Federation, the representatives of the Jemiyatululama of Batticoloa and Colombo and the petitioners, aggrieved parties namely the two girls.

At this discussion the Federation undertook to get all mosques in Kattankudy announce by loudspeakers the innocence of the two girls.

It was agreed by all to take steps to build a society where the girls and children could have faith, trust and security.
The Federation informed the HRCSL by letter dated 06.02.2012 that announcements regarding the innocence of the two girls had been made by all mosques in Kattankudy on 05.02.2012.
4.2 MONITORING AND REVIEW DIVISION The Report on Special Consultation with State Oﬃcials with regard to Prison matters i) Overcrowding • Overcrowding in remand prisons could be lessened if the Magistrates remand the suspects only in cases where it is necessary after a careful study of the B report and after an examina- tion of the suspects produced and grants bail in all other cases.
Thus it will be only where bail cannot be furnished that the suspects will be in remand; • Overcrowding in remand prisons could also be lessened if the drug oﬀenders are sent to diﬀerent centres where such persons could start a program of rehabilitation while in custody • Overcrowding in prisons could be reduced if the scope of the crimes in the Community Based itself; Corrections Act is increased.
ii) Long Term Remand Prisoners • to review legal, administrative and institutional causes which lead to a delay in case of persons held in detention without an indictment or charges served on them; • Appoint a Committee comprising of oﬃcers of the Attorney Generals Department, Government Analysts Department, Police Department, Ministries of Justice, Health and other relevant authorities in order to ﬁnd the causes which lead to delays to serve charges or indictment, to receive communications and reports; • Create data base and network of details of all prisoners with access to the authorities to monitor such delays; • Supervise prisons regularly to verify whether prisoners are treated in accordance with the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Need to ensure regular supervision of prisons by the magistrates in the exercise of their legal powers to supervise the standard of • Foster awareness among prison oﬃcials on the standard minimum rules and basic principles for the treatment of prisoners which have been adopted by the international laws and stan- prisons; dards.

iii) Condemned Prisoners To revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
A) Measures for the Treatment of Prisoners; • To have measures to certify the minimum standards and basic principles on the treatment of prisoners for better conditions in remand prisons.

• To identify skills of persons separately and help to develop them for the productive use of prisoners.

• A mechanism to increase the number of welfare oﬃcers for the prisons.
B) Measures for Long-term Detention and Overcrowding at Prisons; • Prisoners’ long term detentions at prisons prove institutional & procedural weaknesses of the Sri Lankan system.

The Attorney General’s Department, The Government Analyst’s Depart- ment, and The Police Department should eﬀectively change to overcome this gap.

Other Parties (ex: lawyers, the public) too, have a prominent role in this regard.
• To appoint a “Case Management Committee” to give and apply suitable measures for the blockage of cases, and to monitor its progress.

This authority shall include various representa- tives from related oﬃcial bodies.

• Problems regarding granting bails are at a top level.

It proves that, there is an urgent need for a strong assistance from the civil society in this regard.

• To amend or ensure the proper implementation of Act of Bail.

• More involvements on the part of the Mediation Board.
• To hold prison screening sessions/open court sessions periodically at prisons to review cases involving minor oﬀenders, and dispense rulings for remand prisoners.

• Introducing a credit awarding system to give credit to the accused at the trial for an early plea of guilt (ex: reducing bail or imprisonment period etc.).

• Making cost orders against lawyers for unnecessary adjournments.
C) Measures for the Drug Addicts; • Prison reports show that the number of prisoners who are arrested under drug-related oﬀences is increasing by a considerable percentage year by year.

Among others, heroine cases are at the top.

It seems that there is a special need for strong rehabilitating and preventing mechanisms.

Bringing the Drug Dependent Persons (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act to a more eﬀective and practicable stage will be a better answer.
It is essential, as a part of measures to the problem of over-crowding at prisons.

• The drug addicts should be treated as patients and measures to rehabilitate them should be taken instead of jailing them as prisoners.

• To establish separate places/prisons only for drug addicts.

D) Measures for the Lack of Awareness; • To have a national level mechanism to make people aware of the facilities available for free legal assistance by the state and non-state sectors.
• Prisoners lack awareness regarding the measures which can be followed under a tortured situation.

They should be given not only the legal assistance but also the awareness which they require as remand prisoners.

• To have counseling schemes for the families of prisoners at the Divisional Secretariat level.
F) Measures for Rehabilitation and other Related Issues; • Providing adequate funds for rehabilitation programmes and vocational training activities from the government or means to obtain sponsorships for such purpose.

• Enhancing commitment among the government and other related institutions for eﬀective rehabilitation.

activities.

• Establish mid-way homes to rehabilitate them once they have left prison.
This will assist ex-prisoners to reconnect with society and prevent them from engaging in further criminal G) Measures for Reintegration Issues; • Establishment of provincial protection centers (for at least 06 months after rehabilitation) for those who conclude rehabilitation process.

• Mandatory service from government vocational training, social service institutions for the follow up of these clients in order to ensure that they are able to make a living for themselves and their families.
• To formulate a system to assist prisoners when they left the prison.

• Providing loan opportunities to released prisoners with the collaboration of banks.

H) Measures for the Lack of Closer Interrelationship between Stakeholders; • Prison authorities to have a strong and trustworthy interrelationship with the civil society.
Accordingly, genuine and responsible external organizations can be given access to prisons, to assist in having human, ﬁnancial and material resources for the purpose of improving the prison conditions.

• To establish a complete national database on prisoners with access and beneﬁt to various stakeholders (ex: Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Commission etc.).

• To have meetings quarterly among responsible institutions for the purpose of progress assessments.
• The death penalty is not accepted by our religions and culture in our society.

The Commission also believes that is not the answer for the growing crimes in the country.

therefore it is proposed to take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty.

• To ratify the second protocol to the ICCPR and amend the domestic law to meet its requirements.
• To take necessary administrative and judicial measures to revoke the sentence of death of all condemned prisoners and to sentence them for life imprisonment J) Measures for the Issues Regarding Detainees under the Immigration and Emigration Law; • Relocating the detention centre considering the existing condition of it and respecting the gender sensitivity and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities.
• Assigning required staﬀ to manage the centre eﬀectively by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration and ensure protection of such detainees.

• To coordinate with respective country Embassies/ High Commission Oﬃces/ Consular Oﬃces and facilitate the deporting process.

• To collect and maintain a data base on such detainees.

• To rename the Institutional identity.


• Renovating the existing buildings and upgrading the condition of detention of the Mirihana detention centre until it is moved to a temporary place or proposed permanent building in Minuwangoda.

The IOM expressed their willingness to provide required ﬁnancial assistance for such reconstruction.
Chapter Five SOME OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS 5.1 Some Activities in Brief 5.1.1 Human Rights Awareness Awakened at “Dayata Kirula” HRCSL conducted a stall at the ‘Dayata Kirula’ national development exhibition held in February 2012 at Anuradhapura.

Those who visited the HRCSL stall and won a question and answer competition were presented with bags of gifts.

Educational value leaﬂets on human rights were also distributed in large numbers to those who visited the stall.
5.1.2 The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” HRCSL organized a launching ceremony of “ The Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” on 23rd April 2012 at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo.

This ceremony was held under the patronage of Justice Priyantha R.P.

Perera, Chairman, HRCSL.

This course will be conducted by the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University with the consultation of HRCSL.
5.1.3 The International Day in support of Victims of Torture -2012 The HRCSL organized a programme to mark the International Day in support of the Victims of Torture under the theme of “Rehabilitation work is a torture survival right”.

This was held under the patronage of the Chairman of the HRCSL – Justice Priyantha R P Perera on 26th June 2012 at the HRCSL Head Oﬃce Auditorium.

OICs of the Western Province Police Department, Prison Rehabilitation Oﬃcers and Civil Societies also participated 5.1.4.
HRCSL intervention helped to protect rights of persons with mental illness Dr. Jayan Mendis – Director, Institute of Mental Health participated in a special lecture organized by the HRCSL for its staﬀ on 25.07.2012 at the HRCSL Auditorium.

He said that he faced many challenges to develop the Institute and that the HRCSL supported to uplift the conditions of persons who came within the purview of the Institute.
On this occasion posters on “Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care” which were printed by the HRCSL in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English) were handed over to Dr. Jayan Mendis.

5.1.5 Civil Society Meeting A meeting with the civil society was held in October 2012 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Auditorium.
The invitation to participate at the meeting was through a newspaper notice which action was com- mented as a positive move to counteract allegations that civil society organizations to participate at events of this nature were handpicked by the Commission.
Lack of knowledge of the UPR at grass root level, the possibility of getting access to places of detention by Human rights Defenders( HRD) as visits by lawyers to such places are costly, the need for awareness of the HRCSL mandate and activities among people in general, were discussed among many other topics.
The participants formed 5 groups following the deliberations and completed forms issued by the HRCSL the objec- tive of which was to obtain views on the ways and means of improving the engagement of the civil society in the activities of the Commission.
5.1.6 Human Rights training Programme for Journalists The Human Rights Training Programme organized on 15th and 16th October 2012 with the support of the UNDP marked a crucial point of convergence between HRCSL and local mass communication networks, and also further enabling the Commission’s awareness eﬀorts.
Organised in the immedi- ate wake of the global acceptance of LLRC recommendations, adoption of a 2011-2016 National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, and, most recently, the ﬁrst-ever submission of an independent report to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the HRCSL – content of which will feature prominently in the forthcoming Combined Report arising from the UPR, the event signiﬁed yet another important landmark for the Commis- sion in an already eventful year 5.1.7 A Poster on “Right to Claim Your Rights” A poster on “Right to claim your rights” was developed and 5000 copies printed in three languages (Sinhala, Tamil & English).
This poster was distributed through IGP to all police stations in the Island.

5.1.8 Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.

A study Conference on human rights for parliamentarians was held for the ﬁrst time in the history of Sri Lanka Parliament in December 2012.

The purpose of this Conference was to create a basic knowledge for parliamentarians on the Human Right Instruments and our government’s obligations to these instruments.
This Conference was planned and implemented by the UN and the HRCSL and organized by the Deputy Speakers Oﬃce.

5.1.9 International Human Rights Day Celebration The programme organized by the HRCSL to celebrate the Human Rights Day was held on 10th December 2012 at the BMICH under the theme ‘My Voice Counts’---the theme announced by the UN for the 2012 Human Rights Day.
With this theme in mind the Commission included in its programme a panel discussion with eminent panelists who spoke brieﬂy on diﬀerent topics selected by the Commission.

The purpose of the discussion was to raise the voice on behalf of people who claim rights.
The selected topics were as follows; • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights • Women’s Rights • Children’s Rights • Right to Freedom of Expression and Language Each speaker was allocated 05 to 07 minutes to introduce the topic followed by a question and answer session with the participation of all panelists and members of the audience.

A cultural event by the students of Vivekananda College, Kotahena, Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya and the elders of the Help Age ended the programme.
5.2 Meetings / Consultations / Media Briefings / Press Releases - 2012 Some matters discussed on these occasions in brief 5.2.1 Meeting with H.E.

the President Purchase of the building • Proposal to open new regional centres in the 6 districts namely Killinochchi, Puttlam, Kurune- gala, Ratnapura, Moneragala and Nuwara Eliya; • To expand the allocation for the promotional activities of HRCSL to implement the National Human Rights Action Plan 2011-2016.
5.2.2 Meeting with Government Treasury Officials • The same matters that were discussed with the President were taken up for further discussion 5.2.3 Meeting with the Officials of the UGC, Ministry of Higher Education • Matters relating to the “ Z “ score controversy discussed and suggested to obtain advice from the Hon Attorney General.
5.2.4 Meeting with Ahamediya Muslim delegation • Problems relating to the indiﬀerence to their faith by the press in the publication of unfounded stories concerning Ahamadi refugees.
5.2.5 Meeting with the Evaluation Committee of the Commonwealth Secretariat • Assess the impact and eﬀectiveness of part assistance • Improve and design delivery of future assistance 5.2.6 Meeting with the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity To facilitate a meeting with the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Qatar and thus form a close link with the Human Rights Commission of Qatar in order to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers 5.2.7 Focus Group Meeting on the National Human Rights Action Plan Attended meetings conducted by Hon Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E The President on Human Rights to discuss the implementation of the NHRAP 2011 – 2016 5.2.8 Meeting –Ministry of External Affaires • On preparation of periodic reports on ratiﬁed human right conventions.
5.2.9 Meeting –Ministry of Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms representatives • On the promotion of human rights for prisoners 5.2.10 Meeting –National Institute of Health • To promote the rights of mentally retarded persons 5.2.11 Meeting with the IGP on 14.08.2012 • Non implementation of recommendations of the HRCSL against police oﬃcers including also cases that had been ﬁlled by employees of the Police Department against the same depart- ment.
oﬃcers purpose • Lack of knowledge of the legal provisions relating to human traﬃcking among the police • Abductions aﬃliated with white vans • Dispersal of protests and demonstrations and the use of weapons by the police for such 5.2.12 Press Release on the Right to Accessibility of Persons with Diverse Abilities • Problems faced by persons with disabilities and the fact that the Accessibility Regulations No 1 of 2006 has been postponed until 2014 by Special Gazette Notice of 18/09/2009 • HRCSL has already taken action to monitor the implementation of the said regulation • Invited persons to notify the Commission of any violations of the Accessibility Regulations 5.2.13 Media briefing on Recent Undertakings of the HRCSL • Congestion in the prisons as well as in remand prisons • Harassment of two schoolgirls in Kaththankudy • Problems faced by migrant workers • How the HRCSL recommendations could be enforced with greater eﬃcacy and eﬃciently 5.2.14 Message issued by the HRCSL for the International Migration Day • Noted that Sri Lanka has over 1.8 million workers abroad with an annual outflow of 250,000 • Important to recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economic development of persons the country Chapter Four SPECIAL REPORTS 4.1 INQUIRIES AND INVESTIGATION DIVISION 4.1.1 Environment Case Report Ms Chandra Amarasinghe vs Chairman BOI/ Chairman CEA / Chairman Sri Lanka L R&D Corp /Chairman UDA Case Nos: HRC/2073/09, HRC /1166/09,HRC/4945/09,HRC/5405/09 The complaints were in respect of the following state institutions; 1.
The Bureau of Investment (BOI) 2.

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) 3.

Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development Corporation(SLLRDC) 4.

The Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha The Complainant stated that the BOI had entered into an agreement with Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd and Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd at No 111 Maithree Mawatha Ekala and at Temple Road Ekala respectively without obtaining an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Referred as EIAR in this document) from the Central Environmental Authority.
It is also stated that Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd has constructed factories in three places namely; 1.

No 111, Maithree Mawatha, Ekala 2.

No 144/11 Minuwangoda Road, Ekela 3.

No 30, Minuwangoda Road, Ekela The BOI position was that it was not necessary to prepare an (EIAR) as Rhino is not a prescribed project and that the BOI had after evaluation of the environment impact and after taking steps to minimize the said impact granted approval with the concurrence of the CEA.
The CEA had granted its concurrence to BOI subject to conditions in respect of the Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd at 111, Maithree MawathaEkala.

CEA position was that Rhino Rooﬁng Products Ltd had carried on a factory at No 30 Minuwangoda Road, Ekala earlier prior to starting the factory at Maithree Mawatha.

In respect of the earlier factory the Environmental Protection Licence had been granted which now stands cancelled.
In respect of the new factory it is only one month before production that the Environmental Protection Licence from the CEA has to be obtained.

The CEA failed to mention anything about the Melawire Rooﬁng Ltd. SLLRDC made reference to the factory at 111, Maithree Mawatha which was situated on high land and needed no licence from the SLLRDC.

No reference was made to Melwire Rooﬁng Ltd. which was alleged by the petitioner as situated on a low lying marshy land.
The position of the Ja Ela Pradeshiya Sabha was that the Rhino Rooﬁng Products had made an applica- tion to build a rest room and a store building and after obtaining approval it had started building a factory.

As a result of the public outcry the said approval was cancelled and the company ﬁled a case in the Court of Appeal.

Subsequently a settlement was entered and the company made 13 building applications that were approved by the Prdeshiya Sabha.
A sum of Rs 945000/ had been paid by the company to the Pradeshiya Sabha as legal costs.

The two projects are gazetted as prescribed projects in the gazettes published under the provisions of the National Environmental Act No 47 0f 1980 as amended by Act No 56 of 1988.

As such an Environmental Impact Assessment Report is required to be produced with the concur- rence of the CEA.
Therefore the 1st and 2nd Respondents have not acted in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in that they failed to consider the manu- facture of asbestos and iron and steel as prescribed projects within the gazette regulations framed under the laws framed to protect the environment for which an EIAR Report has to be produced.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have not explained the circumstances under which Melawire Rolling Ltd started manufacturing steel products at Temple Road, Ekela without the approval being granted by the BOI and the CEA thus allowing the pollution of the environment, releasing industrial waste and eﬄuence without such waste being recycled or treated properly.
The 1st and the 2nd Respondents have further failed to follow the mandatory provisions of the National Environmental Act in allowing Rhino Rooﬁng Ltd to establish their factory in an area where a population of 30,000 live.
Thereby they have deprived the people in the area of the right to fresh air and proper drinking water as the air in the area had got polluted with asbestos and steel dust and the water in the wells had got polluted with the sludge from asbestos and waste from steel products which are released to the environment without being treated.

The 3rd Respondent had not taken steps to prevent Melwire Rolling Ltd encroach on land situated in a reservation area of a waterway and ﬁll a low lying marshland.
The Factory is situated in an area described in Colombo District under Identiﬁcation No18 (vide Gazettee No1545 of 17.04.2008 marked A2) as a low lying wetland.

The 3rd Respondent is also responsible for the pollution of air and water in the area.

The 4th Respondent has cancelled the building approval when there was a public out cry that Rhino Rooﬁng Products was constructing a factory under the license to build a rest room and a store building.
The company had then ﬁled an application in the Court of Appeal and obtained a stay order and the 4th Respondent had watched helplessly as the company carried on the construction on the strength of the stay order.

The 4th Respondent should have ﬁled an application seeking an order to demolish the structures already constructed which they failed to do.
A) Observations of the Inquiring Oﬃcer • The implementation of the Language policy The Petitioner had written several letters and made many representations to all the four state institutions and according to him none of these institutions had replied nor responded.
Though the • Necessary to take constructive steps to protect the human rights of migrant workers in the host countries within their local mandates Annexure I: Written submission to the Universal Periodical Review [UPR] 2nd Cycle, 14th Session, 2012 Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka [HRCSL] No.

165 Kynsey Road, Borella, Colombo 8.


Telephone: ++ 94 112 696 470 / ++94 112 689 558 Facsimile: ++ 94 112 694 924 Email: sechrc@sltnet.lk Web: www.hrcsl.lk 53 The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka was established under Act No: 21 of 1996, comes under the purview of the 18th amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka and is entrusted with the broad task of promotion and protection of the rights of people.
According to Section 10 of the Act, the HRCSL inquires into and investigates complaints regarding procedures, to ensure the compliance with the provisions of the Constitution related to Fundamental Rights[S 10(a)] and infringement or imminent infringement of fundamental Rights and to provide resolutions by conciliation and mediation [S 10(b)].
HRCSL advices the Government in bringing national laws and administrative measures in accordance with Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution[S 10 (d)] and also international standards and to promote awareness and education in relation to Human Rights [S 10(f)].
Furthermore the Commission can advise and assist the Government in formulating legislation and administrative directives and procedures for the furtherance of the promotion and protection of fundamental rights [S 10(c)] and also could make recommendations to the Government on the need to ascribe to or accede to treaties that are related to Human Rights [S 10(e)].

INTRODUCTION 1.

The HRCSL welcomes the conclusions and recommendations made at the 1st UPR.
The HRCSL is for the 1st time actively participating in the UPR process by making this submission, assessing and evaluating the progress made in respect to the recommendations from the last review, and in addition, to review the human rights situation in the reviewing period.
In preparation of this submission, the HRCSL had interactive dialogues with the state authorities on implementation of the recommendations of the last review and with the civil society and I/NGO members at regional and national levels welcoming oral and written submissions.

INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS 2.


Sri Lanka is party to most of the international human rights treaties, but yet to ratify and domesticate the following international human rights treaties in order to strengthen human rights framework of the country.

Further HRCSL encourages Sri Lanka to fulﬁl obligations as per the treaties.

2.1.

The HRCSL welcomes Sri Lanka’s ratiﬁcation of ICCPR and the OP I to the ICCPR enabling individual’s access to the Committee and translates the ICCPR into domestic laws5 .
Following the same, despite the ratiﬁcation of CAT, the GOSL needs to reconsider the reservations made for the CAT.

2.2.

Stating that the HRCSL notes the Government eﬀorts to assure enjoyment of the ESC rights, encourage GOSL to ratify the ICECSR Optional Protocol.

2.3.

While appreciating the commitment of the Government and I/NGO initiatives to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities, HRCSL encourages Sri Lanka to ratify CRPD and its Optional Protocol.
HRCSL could be designated as the independent monitoring mechanism in terms with the CRPD Article 33.

2.4.

HRCSL welcomes the GOSL law and policy changes, administrative arrangements and programmes to fulﬁl the rights promoted under the various treaties ratiﬁed.

HRCSL anticipates the GOSL to take measures to submit periodical reports.

The GOSL needs to designate the respective line ministries as focal points and appoint committees to monitor and submit reports on time.
5 International Covenant Civil and Political Rights Act, No.56 of 2007 54 2.5.

HRCSL emphasizes the role of the Government in implementing and communicating the recommendations made under the UPR, it heartens the GOSL to raise awareness and to have a wide range of consultations among the Government oﬃcials including provincial councils in before, during and after the UPR.

DOMESTIC CONCERNS 3.


Internally Displaced Persons A total of 317,7902 6 new IDPs and 304,000 protracted IDPs reported at the beginning of the 7.

Government claims that majority of the IDPs are been resettled, but needs to year 2010 consider IDPs living with host families and who are in need of durable solution.
Rights of IDPs in reference to food security have been ensured and they have also been facilitated in reintegration in areas of return through infrastructure building and providing of assistance for initial economic opportunities8.

HRCSL appreciates Government’s attempt to ensure housing rights of people 9 .

However, land related disputes are aggravating issues through providing housing for returnees that require much attention of the Government.
Addressing the issues of IDPs and returnees to ensure equal rights, the HRCSL suggests the GOSL [a] to implement existing programmes of providing compensation for death and injuries, and for loss and damage of land and property within a speciﬁc time period [b] initiate an appropriate 10 considering the gravity and conﬂict sensitivity of land and property Government mechanism related disputes.

4.
4.

HIV/AIDS Since the time of its discovery in Sri Lanka in 1987, the prevalence of HIV has been one of the lowest across the globe, percentaging to 0.1%.

As of end of 2011, Sri Lanka reported a 11 , while it is estimated that the number could be ranging possibly cumulative total of 1463 12 .

The GOSL STD services between 2000-4000 against the total country population of 20 million provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) free of charge to all eligible people living with HIV.

4.1.
4.1.

HRCSL observed that PLHIV availing services refer often to instances of Stigma and Discrimination.

Even though many steps have been taken to sensitize hospital staﬀ and authorities on reducing stigma and discrimination faced by PLHIV, many situations of rights violations, such as refusal to treat and breach in conﬁdentiality of PLHIV status have occurred 55 in the past.
The GOSL strategic directions under the Health Master Plan for Sri Lanka (2007-2011) and the National Maternal and Child Health Policy relating to HIV Prevention and PLHIV Care do not speciﬁcally refer to the rights of PLHIV.

The GOSL needs to take measures to ensure legal awareness and free legal aid for PLHIV and targeted community such as LGBTIQ, IDU, CSW communities to ensure digniﬁed life with access to health and legal services.
Further, the Government needs to enhance the capacities of the NDDCB to rehabilitate drug users and to regulate rehabilitation centres across the country, according to the Minimum Standards drawn by the NDDCB which calls upon rehabilitation centres to ensure that the “Human Rights of the clients are protected” 4.2.

The National Blood Transfusion Service Bill 13 has not yet been passed.
The HRCSL recom- mends the GOSL to compensate for people who contract HIV through blood transfusions at the Government hospital.

5.

Freedom of Expression HRCSL recognizes the right to expression linked with right to information as foundation of democracy and encourages the Government to ensure free and secure environment for media personnel and institutions and enact the Right to Information Bill with necessary changes.

6.

Human Rights and the Society.


The HRCSL recognizes the signiﬁcant value of civil society, human rights defenders, activists, educa- tors, promoters and education institutions in promotion and protection of human rights.

The GOSL needs to recognize and facilitate them for enabling their services to reach people in need meanwhile ensuring protection of persons and sustainability of human rights institutions.

During the reviewing period, the HRCSL trained and deployed 1340 HRDs in conﬂict aﬀected areas.
7.

Rights of Prisoners 14 .

The There is an increase of Prisoners at various Prison institutions, causing overcrowding at Prisons overcrowding of the remand prisoners are due to the delay in prosecution, delay in concluding investigations and not providing of bail or inability of the remandee to furnish the bail conditions due to the stringent bail conditions 15 .
56 There are 1064 Prisoners convicted with the death sentence from the year 2000 to 2010 16, but from the year 1977, Prisoners were not executed.

They are living with minimum facilities 17 There is no system of crediting the time in detention when the ﬁnal prison sentencing is made.
The Department of Community Based Corrections is contributing in a high scale to mitigate the number of convicted prisoners being imprisoned; hence the scope of the crimes that are able to be referred to the community based corrections are very minimal.

While respecting the Government’s eﬀorts in expanding the facilities in the Prisons and increasing the number of court houses to expedite prosecution, HRCSL encourages the GOSL to take appropriate measures18 without delay.

8.
8.

Right to Remedial Action There are judicial, quasi judicial and other institutions created in order to hold the administrators accountable for their actions and inactions by empowering them to receive public complaints and to provide relief and redresses.

The HRCSL recognizes the importance of those institutions19, especially in post conﬂict era, and observes that availability and accessibility of those services at the district and divisional levels are not satisfactory.
Hence, HRCSL encourages the GOSL to capacitate those institutions to establish district and divisional levels mechanism.

9.

Land, Housing and Property Rights Ensuring equal rights for land, housing and property is under the purview of the Government.

HRCSL wishes to see that GOSL implements due procedures20 in distributing lands for the poor and landless people and 2nd generation of IDPs21 as an approach to poverty alleviation.
HRCSL also observes acquisition of land for security22 establishments and developmental purposes.

Some areas which have been acquired as high security zones during the conﬂict are being turned into Special Economic Zones23.

The HRCSL emphasizes that the GOSL should 57 implement standard procedure in land acquisition that people have to be informed, consulted, provide with alternative lands, and compensate prior to land acquisition.

10.
10.

Freedom from Torture and Custodial Deaths The deaths of persons in the state custody and incidents of torture have been reported to the HRCSL .

There is no provision to penalize or impose strict liability on the OIC of the Police Station, in case of a death in custody and torture .
While appreciating the initiatives taken by the Government to minimize death in custody and torture, the HRCSL stresses the GOSL to take appropriate action on imposing the liability for torture and death in custody on the OICs of the Police stations, SPs of the Prisons and heads of other places of detentions when the suﬃcient evidence are established.

Compensation schemes needs to be introduced to the dependants of the person demised in custody in case of torture.
The repeal of the legislations to ensure that a victim or an accused is able to represent with his or her Attorney at the Police stations, as per the directions of the Supreme Court26 .

12.

Peace and Reconciliation 12.1.

Three decades of war ended in 2009 bringing new hopes for lives.

Elections were held in conﬂict aﬀected areas .


The HRCSL notes the development programmes taking place in the Northern Province, but since the conclusion of war, transition of these areas from situation of war to normalcy is not much visible with the high military presence , inﬂuence and participa- tion in public administration and public programmes.

The GOSL needs to have the Provincial Council Election in NP to ensure democracy and voting rights of people in the North.

12.2.
12.2.

The HRCSL recognizing the necessity of durable peace encourages the GOSL to implement a sustainable peace building and reconciliation progarmme.

While appreciating the appoint- ment of LLRC, the HRCSL encourages the GOSL to implement recommendations related to reconciliation.
58 List of Acronyms CAT The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or CRPD GOSL HRDs HRCSL ICCPR ICESCR IDPs Punishment Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Government of Sri Lanka Human Rights Defenders Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Internally Displaced Persons NDDCB National Dangerous Drugs Control Board NP OIC PLHIV LLRC SP UPR Northern Province Oﬃcer In charge People Living with HIV Lessens Learn and Reconciliation Commission Superintendant of Prison Universal Periodical Review 59 Annexure II: Report on Strengthening the Human Rights of Older Persons in Sri Lanka (This report was forwarded to the third session of the Open-ended working Group on strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons) Introduction The ﬁrst part of this document describes the population ageing scenario in Sri Lanka.
The second part contains speciﬁc proposals for discussion by the open ended working group.
These proposals were developed following island wide regional consultations and a national level consultations were attended by multiple stakeholders including high-ranking government oﬃcials attached to government Ministries and Departments, academics, professionals, legislators, UN agencies, international NGOs, local NGOs, community based organizations, religious organizations, members of the civil society, media personnel and a segment of elderly population.
The speciﬁc proposals submitted in these documents were extracted from the detailed deliberations in the local consultation process.

For more details please make reference to the attached separate detailed document marked as Annex I – lk.

The conclusion of the consultation process was that there is necessity for a universal instrument to strengthen the wellbeing and protection of elder’s rights.
Population Aging in Sri Lanka: New Challenge for the 21st Century In Asian social traditions, the elderly are revered.

However, the United Nations observes that industrialization, urbanization and new technology have brought about radical social changes, which have weakened the family support system in Asian societies.

In these circumstances, the aging population is becoming a serious problem in many Asian societies, including Sri Lanka.
Comparing the aging experience of western countries with that of Sri Lanka reveals that aging in Sri Lanka is occurring in parallel to a lower level of economic development.

A favorable combination of fertility, mortality and international migration trends leading towards an age structural transition in the country, has resulted in a signiﬁcant increase of the proportion of elderly population.
Nevertheless, recent economic and social changes such as urbanization and increased female labour force participation(even though their labour force participation is relatively low still), have lessened the capacity of females to support the elderly.

The proportion of elderly population in Sri Lanka is higher than in other South Asian countries.

In 2001, over 9% of Sri Lanka’s populations were 60 years of age and over, which is a relatively large elderly population for a developing country.
The deﬁnition of “elderly” varies from society to society.

Here, “elderly” is deﬁned as those who are 60 years or more.

The reason for taking 60 as a cut-oﬀ age is that, in both government as well as private institutions in Sri Lanka, the retirement age is between 55 and 60 years.

The international labour migration, largely concentrated among young adult working age groups, has increased during the last three decades, reducing the proportion of the working age population in the country.
Because of the extent of youth’s migration, the proportion of the elderly in the population has increased.

Based on this migration pattern and the future trends in mortality, fertility and international migration, the proportion of the population aged 60 and over is projected to increase by nearly 36% from 9.2% in 2001 to 12.5% in 2011.

By year 2041, about a quarter (24.8%) of the Sri Lankan population will be in the 60 and above age group.
60 During the period covering 2010 to 2041, the Sri Lanka population will increase moderately by about 9% from 20 to 22 million.

During this period, the elderly population (60 and above) will increase from 2.5 million in 2010 to 5.3 million in 2041, increase of over 100%, or a doubling of the elderly popula- tion.

Speciﬁc Proposals for Discussion on Diﬀerent Thematic Areas Relating to Elders Rights Protection by Sri Lanka 1.

Policy, Legal and Institutional Framework 1.


Policy for every country on national pension for older persons may be introduced for a universal compulsory pension scheme for older persons 2.

The existing pension schemes are not adequate to cover large segment of the workers.

Only the government and some segments of the private sector are covered by individualized pension schemes.

3.

Introduce a comprehensive universal deﬁnition for ‘older person’ – this would facilitate international comparison.

4.
4.

Universal identiﬁcation system for elders (identity card) 5.

State institute for elders funded by the national budget and ensure suﬃcient allocation from national budget for elders rights protection.

6.

In the stage of development of all government action plans, must include a separate section concerning elders.

7.

Proper mechanism / institutional framework / trained oﬃcers must be adequately available at all levels.

8.
8.

Encourage public and private partnership of member countries for the betterment of rights protection promotion of elders.

9.

A speciﬁc UN General Assembly Resolution is encouraged to include elders into the MDGs – Thus, integrating elders into developmental processes of all countries are ensured.

10.Respective diﬀerent social and cultural diversities must be taken into consideration when formulating the Convention for elders.
11.To ensure individual rights protection of elders, legislators are encouraged to have legislation on individual rights protection and not merely on establishing institutions.

12.Establishment of Institutional Framework – the existing Senior Citizens committees established under the Act No.

5 of 2011 and consortia level Elders Committees at Divisional Secretariat, District, Provincial and National level, is a strong institutional framework.
This model which is backed by the legal framework could be implemented in other countries.

61 2.

Social Welfare 3.

Social Security 5.

Mental Health insurance schemes for elders.

4.

Health (General) 1.

Introduce and implement a non – contributory universal pension scheme for elders.

2.

Special concern shall be given to strengthen and secure families of migrant workers.

1.

For the greater security of elders encourage member states to introduce separate pension and 1.
Promotion of sexual and reproductive health among the elderly to improve and secure family / spousal relationships, e.g., this could prevent child abuse HIV AIDS and family disintegration.

1.

Early detention and raising awareness among the public about mental health issues including dementia related to old age.

2.

Strengthen the existing counseling training programmes and service delivery for the elders.

6.

Conﬂict & Disastrous Situations 1.


Special mechanisms to be established to provide provisions and facilities to the aﬀected elders to ensure their wellbeing.

2.

Emergency fund especially for rescue purposes in case of elders being abandoned.

3.

All National Action Plans on disastrous and conﬂict situations shall have a separate section to deal with matters relating to elders.

4.

Programmes shall be introduced to reintegrate/reunite elderly with their families.

7.
7.

Education, Advocacy and Communication rights.

social harmony.

image of the elders.

1.

Empower the elder and members of the elders committees for advocacy campaigning for their 2.

Advocacy to instill responsibility in the younger generations about the senior citizens to promote 3.

Bring the old celebrities to the front to promote advocacy for elders.

4.

Encourage media to portrait older person’s dignity and their image in the society.

5.
5.

Encourage all media to strengthen about existing family related norms and about the dignity and 6.

Media and legislators shall be trained in order to become voluntary champions to take forward good practices / norms to the next generations.

7.

Strengthen the existing school curricula to facilitate intergenerational harmony.

8.

Eﬀective Coordination among Stakeholders 1.


Facilitating to develop mechanisms for eﬀective coordination between members states and international organizations in promotion elders rights During the period covering 2010 to 2041, the Sri Lanka population will increase moderately by about 9% from 20 to 22 million.
During this period, the elderly population (60 and above) will increase from 2.5 million in 2010 to 5.3 million in 2041, increase of over 100%, or a doubling of the elderly popula- Speciﬁc Proposals for Discussion on Diﬀerent Thematic Areas Relating to Elders Rights Protection by tion.

Sri Lanka 1.

Policy, Legal and Institutional Framework 1.

Policy for every country on national pension for older persons may be introduced for a universal compulsory pension scheme for older persons 2.
The existing pension schemes are not adequate to cover large segment of the workers.

Only the government and some segments of the private sector are covered by individualized pension schemes.

international comparison.

3.

Introduce a comprehensive universal deﬁnition for ‘older person’ – this would facilitate 4.

Universal identiﬁcation system for elders (identity card) 5.
State institute for elders funded by the national budget and ensure suﬃcient allocation from national budget for elders rights protection.

6.

In the stage of development of all government action plans, must include a separate section concerning elders.

all levels.

7.

Proper mechanism / institutional framework / trained oﬃcers must be adequately available at 8.

Encourage public and private partnership of member countries for the betterment of rights protection promotion of elders.

9.
9.

A speciﬁc UN General Assembly Resolution is encouraged to include elders into the MDGs – Thus, integrating elders into developmental processes of all countries are ensured.

10.Respective diﬀerent social and cultural diversities must be taken into consideration when formulating the Convention for elders.

11.To ensure individual rights protection of elders, legislators are encouraged to have legislation on individual rights protection and not merely on establishing institutions.
12.Establishment of Institutional Framework – the existing Senior Citizens committees established under the Act No.

5 of 2011 and consortia level Elders Committees at Divisional Secretariat, District, Provincial and National level, is a strong institutional framework.

This model which is backed by the legal framework could be implemented in other countries.

2.

Social Welfare 1.

Introduce and implement a non – contributory universal pension scheme for elders.

2.
2.

Special concern shall be given to strengthen and secure families of migrant workers.

3.

Social Security 1.

For the greater security of elders encourage member states to introduce separate pension and insurance schemes for elders.

4.

Health (General) 1.

Promotion of sexual and reproductive health among the elderly to improve and secure family / spousal relationships, e.g., this could prevent child abuse HIV AIDS and family disintegration.

5.

Mental Health 1.


Early detention and raising awareness among the public about mental health issues including dementia related to old age.

2.

Strengthen the existing counseling training programmes and service delivery for the elders.

6.

Conﬂict & Disastrous Situations 1.

Special mechanisms to be established to provide provisions and facilities to the aﬀected elders to ensure their wellbeing.

2.

Emergency fund especially for rescue purposes in case of elders being abandoned.

3.
3.

All National Action Plans on disastrous and conﬂict situations shall have a separate section to deal with matters relating to elders.

4.

Programmes shall be introduced to reintegrate/reunite elderly with their families.

7.

Education, Advocacy and Communication 1.

Empower the elder and members of the elders committees for advocacy campaigning for their rights.

2.

Advocacy to instill responsibility in the younger generations about the senior citizens to promote social harmony.

3.
3.

Bring the old celebrities to the front to promote advocacy for elders.

4.

Encourage media to portrait older person’s dignity and their image in the society.

5.

Encourage all media to strengthen about existing family related norms and about the dignity and image of the elders.

6.

Media and legislators shall be trained in order to become voluntary champions to take forward good practices / norms to the next generations.

7.
7.

Strengthen the existing school curricula to facilitate intergenerational harmony.

8.

Eﬀective Coordination among Stakeholders 1.
Facilitating to develop mechanisms for eﬀective coordination between members states and international organizations in promotion elders rights 62 Annexure III: Oﬃcial Travel Abroad – Conference / Meetings / Workshops - 2012 No Name & Designation Mr. T.E Anandarajah Commissioner Ms. E. Sagunthala Investigation Officer Mr.A.L L Issadeen Investigation Officer Ms. T.R.K Samarasekara – Director (M &R) Ms. T.R.K Samarasekara – Director (M &R) Ms.S.J Paranagama Secretary Ms. Shirani Rajapaksa Director ( Edu.&Sp.Prog.)
Ms. Nadee Edirisinghe Legal Assistant Ms.W A U S Wijesooriya Documentation Officer 9 Ms.S.J Paranagama Secretary 10 Dr. Prathiba mahanamahewa Commissioner Mr. B.L.TC De Silva 11 Investigating Officer Justice Priyantha R P Perera Chairman 12 Mr.T.E Anandarajah Commissioner 13 Mr. A.
S Nilantha Investigation Officer Ms. S.N Liyanagama Country & Conference / Seminars / Meetings / Workshops Period Australia Workshop on Justice for all international criminal 13.02.2012 court Conference and ICC and Gender Justice and the Asia Pacific Region capacity Building 16.02.2012 Thailand Regional Training Programme in Human RIghts for Representatives form National Human RIghts Institutions in the Asia Pacific Maldives Training Programme on Promotion and Protec- tion of the rights of Migrant Workers Beirut, Lebanon Capacity Building Programme on Human Rights Advocacy and Migrant workers in the Middle East and Asia Workers Australia Senior Executive officer Roundtable India Training Programme on Human Rights of Older Persons in Asia Pacific Region Philippiness Training Programme on Pilot Regional Training of Trainers (TOT) Blended Learning Course Malaysia Training Programme for Librarians and Resource of National Human Rights Institutions ( NHRIs) in the Asia Pacific Philippines Capacity Assessment of the Philippines Commis- sion on Human RIghts Thailand - 19.03.2012 29.03.2012 30.04.2012 02.05.2012 21.05.2012 25.05.2012 24.05.2012 25.05.2012 04.06.2012 06.06.2012 18.06.2012 22.06.2012 2606.2012 30.06.2012 09.07.2012 21.07.2012 09.10.2012 Regional Stakeholders Dialogue Assessing the Capacities of National Human Rights Institutions 10.10.2012 Quatar Workshop on Migrant Workers Rights 14.10.2011 18.10.2012 Nepal International Conference on Cooperation between HHRIs for the Promotion of Human 26.11.2011 27.11.2012 Rights of the Migrant Workers Thailand Regional Blended Learning Course for Representatives form National Human Rights Institutions in the Asia Pacific 26.11.2011 05.12.2012 63 Annexure IV: Capacity building Programmes for HRCSL staﬀ - 2012 64 2012 jir ms<sn| laIKsl ne,aula Year at a Glance wkqrdOmqr ±hg lsre< m%o¾Ykfha Y%S ,xld udkj ysñlï fldñIka iNd l=áh “Njrj;jpw;F kFlk;” fz;fhl;rpapy; ,.k.M ,d; fhl;rpf;$lk; mDuhjGuk; HRCSL’s Stall at “Dayata Kirula” Exhibition, Anuradhapura niakdysr m<d;a fmd,sia
 ia:dkdêm;sjre - jOysxid úkaÈ;hkag iyfhda.s cd;Hka;r Èk jevigyk Nky;khfhz nghyp]; nghWg;gjpfhupfs; - md;W nfhOk;gpy; rpj;jputijahy; ghjpf;fg;gl;ltu;fSf;fhd Mjutspf;Fk; ru;tNjr jpd epfo;;T OICs of Western Province - International Day in Support of Victims of Torture Programme 2012'06'26 - fld<U j;a;,§ 2012 Tlaf;dan¾ 15 iy 16 udOHfõ§ka i|yd mj;ajk ,o foÈk fkajdisl mqyqKq jevigyk$2012 xf;Nuhgu; 15 kw;Wk; 16 MK; jpfjpfspy; tj;jis gj;jpupifahsu;fSf;fhd ,uz;L ehs; jq;fpapUf;Fk; gapw;rp epfo;r;rpj;jpl;lk; $A two days residential training programme for Journalists held on 15th & 16th October 2012 at Wattala fld<U - Y%S ,xld udkj ysñlï fldñIka iNd Y%jkd.drfha§ mj;ajk ,o udOH yuqj Clhf RUf;f tpsf;fk; ,.k.M Nfl;Nghh;$lk; - nfhOk;G A media briefing held on 31.10.2012 at HRCSL Auditorium, Colombo 2012'10'31 Èk uvl,mqj .=re mqyqKq úoHd,fha§ .=rejreka i|yd mj;ajk ,o udkj yssñlï ms<sn| jevuqMj md;W kdpj cupik njhlh;ghd Mrpupau;fSf;fhd xU gapw;rpg;gl;liw - Mrpupau; gapw;rpf; fy;Y}up kl;lf;fsg;G A Workshop on Human Rights for Teachers , at Teachers Training College, Batticaloa 2012'11'28 Èk hdmkfha mj;ajk ,o isú,a iudc yuqjla aho;g;ghzj;jpy; ,lk;ngw;w xU rptpy; r%ff; $l;lk; A Civil Society Meeting held at Jaffna md¾,sfïka;= uka;%Sjreka i|yd udkj ysñlï ms<sn| wOHhk iuqMj ghuhSkd;w cWg;gpdu;fSf;fhd kdpj cupikfs; kPjhd Ma;T kfhehL Study Conference on Human Rights for Parliamentarians.
udkj ysñlï ms<sn| Wiia ämaf,daud mdGud,dj wdrïN lr ;eîfï Wf<, ‘’kdpj cupikfspy; cau;ju bg;Nshkhtpd;” Muk;gpg;G itgtk; The Launching Ceremony of “ Advanced Diploma in Human Rights” Y% s ,xld udkj ysñlï fldñIka iNdfõ m%dfoaYSh $ Wm $ cx.u ld¾hd, Jaﬀna HRCSL’s Regional/ Sub / Mobile Offices Killinochchi Mullaithivu Vavuniya Mannar Anuradhapura Trincomalee Puttalam Polonnaruwa Regional Oﬃce Sub Oﬃce Mobile Oﬃce Kurunegala Matale Kandy Kegalla Batticoloa Kalmunai Ampara Gampaha Colombo Nuwara Eliya Badulla Monaragala Kalutara Ratnapura Galle Hambantota Matara 66