Four members of Sri Lanka's Rights panel resign

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 October 2007, 13:01 GMT]
Four key members of the Sri Lanka's Human Rights advisory committee set up by Human Rights Minister, Mahinda Samarasinghe to address human rights issues in Sri Lanka, resigned saying that their advice is not being taken seriously, media reports from Colombo said.

Sunila Abeysekera who won Human Rights Watch’s prestigious global rights defender award for 2007, Dr. Rohan Edirisinha and Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu from the Colombo-based think-tank, Center for Policy Alternatives, and Nimalka Fernando submitted the resignations soon after the UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour completed her visit to Sri Lanka.

“We also felt the government was not serious on protecting human rights or eliminating the culture of impunity, so we wrote to the Minister saying we were giving up our positions with immediate effect,” Daily mirror quoted Dr. Saravanamuttu telling the paper.

Members also expressed their objections to members of the government delegation attending the recent UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva publicly questioning the "credentials of Ms. Abeysekera," the paper said.

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External Links:

HRW:		Human Rights Watch Honors Activists
DM:		HR panel falls apart following Arbour visit