Welcome focus on Human Rights

The government is reportedly focusing on the implementation of a National Action Plan on Human Rights and this a target and preoccupation which is most welcome. In fact, this should have taken the spotlight in the public domain from the time this country gained its political independence but this consideration should not prevent us from according to the Action Plan of the state the importance due to it.

It is also perfectly in order for the government to keep the international community informed about its measures with regard to the implementation Human Rights and it is our belief that the state should be supported by the totality of our body-politic in these endeavours at adhering to its Human Rights commitments. Let not the Opposition or any other quarter choose this moment to bicker on any procedural formalities, is our wish. The world needs to know about the state’s efforts to adhere to a Human Rights regime in this country and none should get in the way of the government making the world aware of what it is doing in this regard.

If the UNHRC is being informed by the state about its National Action Plan on Human Rights, all concerned are expected to back it, rather than seek to criticize the government on purely technical issues. Sri Lanka is facing the important task of putting the record straight to the world community on the measures it is adopting to speed-up normalcy in this country, subsequent to ending the 30 year conflict, and it should be helped wholeheartedly by all those who have Sri Lanka’s interests at heart.

Ideally, sections of the Opposition should not choose this moment to score some trivial political points over the LLRC report, which is a veritable blueprint to rejuvenate and revive Sri Lanka on the most wholesome terms, after its 30 year trauma. The most important recommendations of the LLRC are of a ground-breaking nature. They are at a farther remove from anything any quarter concerned with our conflict has recommended so far.

Coming back to our Human Rights commitments, it should be amply clear that they should be considered to be of supreme importance in our national rejuvenation and unifying efforts. If our post-independence political history is to be assessed impartially, it could be found that the state’s inability over the decades, to measure-up to international Human Rights standards consistently, played a substantial role in precipitating the conflict in this country.

The golden norm is to ‘Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you’, and it must be admitted that this order of things was not always maintained in this country. In other words, ‘what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’, but this rule of impartiality and fair play was not always maintained by the state in its dealings with some communities over the years.

So, we need to wipe the slate clean and get on with the task of nation-building. For this purpose, a strong commitment to Human Rights standards is very important and the state should be helped and cooperated with in this task. In fact, a fresh commitment to the principle of equality of condition and opportunity and a swift implementation by the state of all that comes under this head, is the best guarantor of peace and security.

It is said that hardly any citizen is not without a Human Rights issue. If this is the case, then, the implementation of a Human Rights scheme in the state sector in particular would be a sound starting point to making our public sector institutions effective and productive. For, by redressing any Human Rights issues, a citizen would be in a position to put his best foot forward in the performance of his duties.

In a functional democracy, the fair administration of justice takes pride of place, and it is the obligation of the state and the citizenry to ensure that the judicial and state institutions which are important in this context, are forever strengthened and remain vibrant. Besides, the public need to be aware that their human rights issues could be redressed by the country’s judicial institutions.

Accordingly, increasingly educating the public on their rights could also prove vital.