By P.K.Balachandran

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has reported an improvement in the human rights situation in Sri Lanka since Maithripala Sirisena was elected President in January 2015, though people in the Tamil-speaking North and East continued to face some harassments reminiscent of the war years.

Listing Sri Lanka among the “Human Rights Priority Countries”, the report for 2015 released on Thursday said: “Reversing the downward trend of recent years, the government of Sri Lanka took positive steps to improve freedom of expression (including the media) and freedom of movement, reduce inter-community tensions, and restore the independence of institutions such as the Human Rights Commission.”

“The government also signaled its willingness to address long-standing allegations of past human rights abuses and violations, co-sponsoring a resolution in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in October committing it to reconciliation, accountability and the protection of human rights. In a positive change of approach, the government engaged constructively with the international community, including with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other UN bodies. In 2015, the UK worked to encourage and support the government’s reform process.”

“But some of these positive changes are less apparent in the Tamil-speaking North and East. Human rights defenders continued to report harassment and surveillance in 2015, a point raised by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances during their visit in November. The OISL report also highlighted a number of human rights concerns that still remain, including continued reports of torture, and sexual and gender-based violence.”

Courtesy: New Indian Express