Minister Samarasinghe tells UPR sessions:

No military intrusion in Northern people's lives

There has been a significant reduction of military strength in the North since the conflict and there is no intrusive military presence impacting on civilian lives in Jaffna or the Vanni, Plantation Industries Minister and Special Presidential Envoy on Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said.

He was addressing the 14th session of the Universal Periodic Review Meeting of the UNHRC in Geneva yesterday.

"One concern that seems to have drawn the attention of our friends is the question of military presence in the former theatre of conflict. Here, I must categorically state that there has been a significant reduction of the military strength in the North since the end of the conflict.

There is no intrusive military presence impacting on civilian life - in Jaffna or in the Vanni. On the contrary, the military has successfully completed a great deal of work to assist civilians return to their normal lives in the aftermath of the conflict," Minister Samarasinghe said.

The minister said from May 2009 to October 2012, the Army constructed 4,652 permanent new houses, 6,171 semi-permanent houses and renovated 7,454 houses, through their initiative and efforts.

It constructed 73 schools, renovated nearly 500 old school buildings and constructed 23 school playgrounds. The Army has made a significant contribution to the improvement of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. The Army contributed to the socio-cultural needs of the people by building/restoring nearly 250 places of religious worship belonging to all faiths in the North and East.

Moreover, it contributed to the repair of 11 main roads and 43 minor roads during this period, he said. "It is my privilege and pleasure to share with the 14th session of the UPR Working Group, information and perspectives on the action taken to promote and protect human rights in Sri Lanka in the period since our first review in 2008. It has been our consistently articulated position that, in the particular circumstances and context of the Sri Lankan situation, the UPR process provides the best opportunity to raise questions and seek clarifications about the evolving situation in the country," the minister said.

"Some of our friends by way of questions posed have indicated a desire to see a more comprehensive approach taken with regard to the allegedly disappeared.

The UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance (WGEID) has long engaged with successive governments to clear a longstanding backlog of 5,679 cases. I must note that many of these cases (over 4,000) date back over 20 years to the pre-1990 period. A further 1,089 date back to the 1991 to 2005 period. The remaining number lays to rest the canard of an increasing trend in disappearance in the recent past," he said.

"We are working to establish a cross agency national mechanism to clear this backlog. A working committee has been established to respond to cases of disappearances and a Deputy Inspector General of Police appointed to conduct ground verifications of such cases to ascertain the present status.

A special piece of legislation to enable the issuance of death certificates to next of kin was put in place and next of kin can claim monies due to them and obtain secure a substantial degree of closure," Minister Samarasinghe said.

"As a part of implementing our responsibilities, the government submitted its response on 59 cases of disappearances recently brought to its attention by the Working Group. Another set of 100 cases referred by the Working Group has been verified and submitted.

Initial investigations have revealed that nearly 50 percent of the cases have not been complained of to law enforcement. Further investigations are being conducted on the remaining allegations communicated by the Group.

I must note that a comprehensive addressing of this challenge would be greatly facilitated if countries that have received thousands of asylum seekers would cooperate with us by giving us the names of such persons of Sri Lankan origin so that a proper comparison with the allegedly missing can be done," he said.