Substantive improvements envisaged:

Action Plan for rights protection

* Suggestions taken from all sectors

* Document will be sent to UNHR Commissioner

Rasika SOMARATHNA

The government yesterday launched its first national Action Plan for the protection and promotion of human rights, pledging to further protect and improve the country’s human rights conditions in an all-round way.

“It is a truly workable and practical plan for the protection and promotion of human rights, with clear goals, priorities and time bound targets,” Special Envoy for Human Rights, Plantation Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said. The minister said that the document containing the action plan would be sent to the UN Human Rights Commissioner, all member states of the UN Human Rights Council, relevant government and non-governmental organizations and all other stakeholders.

The minister said that the successful implementation of the plan would help strengthen reconciliation and trust among communities while not allowing terrorism to resurface.

The specific responsibilities and tasks involved and the time frame they should be implemented would be forwarded to relevant ministries from today onwards, he added.

According to the Minister, Sri Lanka would periodically update the UNHRC and all other relevant bodies on the progress made.

“I would make use of every international forum I attend, to make the international community aware on the progress we are making,” he added. The three main objectives of the action plan are, the achievement of genuine and substantive improvements in the protection and promotion of human rights, promotion of greater awareness of human rights; both among the general public and in specific sectors and the promotion of coordination of human rights activity among diverse stakeholders.

The five year action plan is divided into eight thematic areas. The implementation would be done by stakehold ministries. There would be separate monitoring and coordinating mechanisms to review progress and make necessary suggestions.

The minister said that the plan was made after a very transparent and comprehensive assessment of human rights needs in Sri Lanka which was then translated into specific goals and practical actions.

“It was not only the government, we took on board suggestions from every sector when preparing the plan. Experts in all areas were represented, from government and non-governmental organizations, to civil society and other stakeholders,” he said.

The minister also said that examples from other international best practices too were taken into consideration when formulating the plan. However, he stressed that it was a truly national undertaking. “It is nationally owned and nationally driven process,” he added.

Describing the elaborate and exhaustive steps taken in preparing the plan, the minister said that from the inception, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had taken a keen interest in the proceedings. “After we submitted the proposals to him he appointed another committee to study it and they came out with several suggestions”.

“Later the Cabinet studied the proposals for five weeks and made their observations. We then went back to all the stakeholders who contributed to prepare it and made the final draft which was approved by the Cabinet,” he said.

He noted that key performance indicators and specific time frames within which each activity should be implemented had been earmarked and an Inter-Ministerial Committee will be appointed to monitor the implementation of the Action Plan.

He stressed that this high level political commitment was vital to ensure continued achievement across different levels of government.

It will help engage all relevant sectors of our society in our human rights agenda, he added.

Explaining the background of how the plan came to be, the minister said that it was prepared in response to a pledge made by the government at its Universal Periodic Review before UN Human Rights Council in 2008.

He explained that it had begun with a review of the human rights situation in the country, which involved a desk review of several key documents including the Universal Periodic Review report on Sri Lanka, recommendations of treaty bodies under various UN human right conventions and recommendations of Special Procedures Mechanism.

“A National Action Plan will allow us to systematically consider our strengths and address our shortcomings in human rights observance,” he said.