HRC Act to be amended

Sandasen MARASINGHE

Discussions are on to amend the Human Rights Commissions Act to include provisions which will enable the Commission to implement its recommendations without delay, Human Rights Commissioner Prathiba Mahanamahewa said. He said two rounds of discussions have already been held in this connection and hoped the Act would be amended soon. Mahanamahewa made this observation at a two day Human Rights training programme for journalists organised by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in Wattala.

He said there is no mechanism to enforce the Commission’s decisions and the only way is to inform about the complaint to the President. “Thereafter, it should be sent to Parliament for a remedy,” Mahanamahewa said. He said there should be another mechanism to enforce these decisions reached at the Human Rights Commission.

The Commissioner said such mechanisms in Australia, India, New Zealand and Malaysia are being studied to amend the Act. Mahanamahewa said though there is a defective mechanism to enforce the decisions, a large proportion of the decisions reached at the HRC are acted upon. Human Rights Commission Secretary Samanthi Jayamanna said 70 to 80 percent of the decisions reached at the HRC are solved successfully.