Sri Lanka going round in circles over human rights

THE UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) on Tuesday issued its findings on Sri Lanka during the ongoing session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

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In its report, the Committee said it was concerned about the lack of a comprehensive register of disappeared persons and the limited progress in clarifying their fate and whereabouts, noting that the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) had only traced 23 disappeared persons out of the 16,966 received cases.

It also stated its concern about the high level of impunity, reflected in the lack of progress in the investigation and prosecution of alleged enforced disappearances, including those that occurred during the armed conflict.

The Committee also said it was concerned about the accidental discovery of at least 17 mass graves which underscored the limited forensic capacity among competent authorities and the absence of centralised ante-mortem and postmortem databases as well as a national genetic database.