Govt to finalize draft Action Plan on HR

The Government will finalize a first draft of the National Action Plan for promotion and protection of human rights shortly. A combined draft of the National Action Plan was presented to Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe on February 2. An inter-Ministerial Committee will be appointed by the Minister to develop a finalized first draft from this combined draft, which will be circulated for public comment.

This initiative was embarked upon for several reasons: firstly, to respond to a need for taking stock of the human rights situation in the country, identifying gaps and implementing appropriate remedial measures. Secondly, during the Universal Periodic Review process at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in May 2008, the Government pledged to develop a national action plan to improve the human rights situation in the country. Thirdly, the National Action Plan is the Government's response to the recommendation of The Vienna Declaration and Program of Action adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria in 1993, which requested each State to consider the desirability of drawing up a national action plan identifying steps whereby the State would improve the protection and promotion of human rights.

This National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights is the product of many months of consultation and co-operation involving both government and civil society.

In developing the Action Plan, the Government assessed the measures in place to protect and promote human rights, identified areas that need improvement and have expressed a commitment to improving the protection and promotion of human rights in Sri Lanka.

The participatory approach adopted in developing the National Action Plan is based on the firm belief of the Government that the process of developing the plan is as important as the outcome. The Plan will not only provide a detailed policy and legislative program to realize the fundamental rights and freedoms provided for in the Constitution, but also looks to expand the realization of those rights and freedoms.

Following Sri Lanka's participation in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process in 2008, the Government commenced the process of developing the Action Plan, with the Disaster Management and Human Rights Ministry as the focal agency for coordination.

As the first step, the Ministry embarked on a stocktaking exercise to identify the most pressing human rights issues in the country through collating recommendations from treaty bodies, comments from UN special procedures and mechanisms, recommendations favourably received at the UPR and civil society input along with other relevant national reports and publications.

Eight priority areas of focus were identified through the stocktaking exercise: two general areas on civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights and six specialized areas looking at torture, IDPs, labour, children, women and migrants. Based on these areas of focus, eight issue papers were developed which were discussed at eight consultations, which included all relevant government agencies and civil society representation. A report of that process was presented at a consultation for civil society organizations in February 2009. Subsequently, eight Drafting Committees were established to draft the National Action Plan. Each drafting committee was made up of 8-10 experts drawn from Government agencies with relevant mandates and civil society organizations.

It was sought to ensure that there were equal numbers of government and civil society representation on each drafting committee. Once the eight Drafting Committees had completed their work and presented the thematic drafts to the Disaster Management and Human Rights Ministry the Ministry compiled a consolidated draft.

This draft will be discussed by a Committee which comprises representatives of Government agencies and other experts and finalized in few weeks. This first draft will be circulated among the public and all stakeholders including political parties for comment. Once public comment has been incorporated, a draft will be presented to Cabinet for approval and adoption.

A monitoring body will be established under the chairmanship of Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister to monitor the implementation of the Action Plan in coordination with the National Action Plan Steering Committee. Regular reports of progress will be made available to the public and also to international bodies such as the UN Human Rights Council.