Govt. unveils human rights action plan 

The National human rights action plan was launched at Parliamentary complex by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday. Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera and Minister of Law and Order Sagala Ratnayaka were also present - Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

By Ashwin Hemmathagama – Our Lobby Correspondent

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday urged the media to help establish human rights in the country and protect whistleblowers, be it an individual or non-governmental organisation. 

Launching the National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights 2017-2022 at the parliamentary complex, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of receiving media support in a responsible manner.

“Today we have passed new laws, especially the Right to Information. We have strengthened the Parliament and have established committees. In the absence of human rights, we have religious and ethnic issues. We need to protect human rights and educate people on their rights, which are unlimited. Unfortunately, the media is not supportive. The media should stop attacking whistleblowers. We should not get worked up simply because non-governmental organisations highlight human rights issues. We will reply wherever possible. There are certain human rights organisations attacking me. But let the human rights organisations continue their work. From birth to the deathbed there are human rights. Many media persons were hurt, lost their lives or fled Sri Lanka. The media should talk about important matters. Getting Page One publicity about these matters is very important, rather than talking about less important issues,” said the Prime Minister.

Highlighting the Unity Government’s attempts to ensure human rights during the last two years and the impact of them, PM Wickremesinghe said: “The action plan on protecting human rights and promotion is launched today. The five-year period from 2017-2022 will be under this plan. I extend my gratitude to Minister Mangala Samaraweera for working towards an action plan, enabling us to execute. With the approval of the Cabinet, I have appointed a committee comprised of ministers. In addition, there is another committee with the state officers, which is headed by Minister Sagala Ratnayaka. The committee is to submit reports on a monthly basis and the committee with ministers will sit once every three months.

“Previous attempts to bring a similar plan faced a lot of issues. But this plan has no issues simply because we have pledged to protect human rights. A key reason for us to create this Government with President Maithripala Sirisena is to establish human rights in this country. We need to remember that there was an era when human rights were unavailable. People were unable to resort even to the Judiciary to assure their rights. The Judiciary had an issue. The Chief Justice was removed and there was no place to resort to for a remedy. So against this background Maithripala Sirisena became the President on 8 January 2015, followed by him establishing the unity Government in September to ensure freedom,” he added.

The Minister of Finance and Mass Media, who was instrumental in formulating the National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights 2017-2022 during his tenure at the Foreign Ministry, stated he hoped establishing human rights would help develop the country where the benefits would be immense. 

“We all want to prosper through honest work, we all want our children to have good education, we all want to worship in peace and to express our opinion freely, we all want to be protected in our old age. In fact, this is a plan but not a series of wish lists of aspirations. We plan to make  concrete measurable progress towards our goals to freely empower the citizenry by making this plan public. We recognise that implementing this ambitious plan is something the Government alone cannot do. We invite all of you to be a part of it and to go along in a meaningful and constructive way. The steady increase of the number of people visiting Sri Lanka, the volume of trade and investment made in Sri Lanka and other economic advantages flowing to the country will continue to increase,” he said. According to Minister Samaraweera, Western countries have accepted the changes in Sri Lanka positively and have started to offer support in many spheres. 

“The lifting of the ban on fisheries exports to the European Union followed by the most important economic incentive in the form of the GSP plus assistance for Sri Lankan products by the European Union was a result of a decision made in 2017. The decision of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation to grant assistance under a compact program will be finalised at the end of this year. These are a few among the many benefits Sri Lanka has received and will continue to enjoy following changes in the focus and thrust of our external engagement strategy and the improvement of the rights of our people,” said Minister Samaraweera.

“In January 2015, the people of Sri Lanka from all parts of the country united to overwhelmingly elect a President on the mandate of strengthening good governance, democracy and human rights, restoring the rule of law, advancing reconciliation and sustainable peace and ensuring economic development. In August 2015, the people of our country upheld this all by voting for the formation of the National Unity Government. This national human rights action plan we launch today on the eve of marking the 70th anniversary of independence of our country signifies the firm ambition to build a better Sri Lanka with rights for all citizens. The rights we recognise and strive for are not for one group or another, but they are for all Sri Lankan citizens. All of us, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, age, social status, have same aspirations and deserve the same protection,” he added.

The National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights 2017-2022 launched yesterday has human rights goals to be achieved along with clearly identified activities, responsible agencies, timeframes and formal indicators. 

A lot of effort, thought and deliberation has gone into the preparation of this document, for over a year, from the time the Cabinet of Ministers appointed the inter-ministerial committee on human rights in May 2016 to undertake this task. 

As approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 3 October this year, the inter-ministerial committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, to monitor the progress of this action plan that is being launched and an official committee established under the directions of Minister Sagala Ratnayake ensures timely progress on the implementation of this action plan and reports to the inter-ministerial committee.