Tamils continue to face discrimination in Sri Lanka, an Indian media reported, quoting the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)’s recently concluded periodic review of Sri Lanka’s implementation of its provisions.
It said CERD committee member and country rapporteur for Sri Lanka Jose Francisco Cali Tzay had said the Tamil population continued to suffer discrimination, including through lack of access to public services in their own language.
Jose Francisco Cali Tzay had noted the fact that police agents in the north do not speak Tamil, and that people continue to live in fear due to military presence.
The Guatemalan expert who has been on the Committee since 2004, said the recently promulgated Law for Witness and Victim Protection had no dedicated funds for the mechanism to facilitate its implementation on the ground, and asked what measures have been taken to protect Tamil women from multiple discrimination.
He had warned that discrimination against Tamils, particularly for not having access to public spaces to bury their dead would continue to hinder lasting peace and reconciliation.
The Sri Lankan delegation, replying to a question from a human rights expert on if Indian Tamils were allowed to return to their country, said any Sri Lankan had the right to return – and the Government had re-established the possibility for dual citizenship.
The CERD members said that the situation of refugees and internally displaced persons, war widows, inter-ethnic violence, reconciliation, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and the lack of human rights education were all “issues of concern” for the Committee.
The Sri Lankan government, however, maintained that persons arrested under the PTA were entitled to all safeguards, including visits by family members and the National Human Rights Commission.
Questions were also raised by the UN committee on risks of political interference, referring specifically to the removal of judges for politically motivated reasons, urging the country to adopt better provisions for ensuring the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.
Pinto had also stated that the government needs to “reinforce the independence and impartiality of the justice sector” during the drafting of its new Constitution.
