EU to suspend GSP+ concessions to Sri Lanka
December 14 2009 – European Commission
Following the adoption of a Commission proposal on Sri Lanka and GSP+ treatment, Christiane
Hohmann, European Commission Spokesperson for Trade said: “The Commission completed a thorough investigation into the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and in particular whether Sri Lanka is living up to the commitments it made to respect international human rights standards when it became a beneficiary of the European Union’s GSP+ trade incentive scheme which provides for additional trade benefits.
The report came to the conclusion that there are significant shortcomings in this area and that Sri Lanka is in breach of its GSP+ commitments.
After consulting with Member States, the Commission has adopted today a proposal with a view to temporarily suspending these additional trade benefits. EU Member States will have two months in which to decide on it.”
GSP+ relies on beneficiary countries’ continuing to respect the substantive eligibility criteria for the scheme. If this no longer is the case, the relevant EC Regulation foresees that the Commission should undertake an investigation to clarify the situation, and then in the light of its findings, take appropriate action either to confirm the continuation of GSP+ benefits or to propose to EU Member States in the Council that they be temporarily withdrawn.
In light of the findings of the investigation adopted by the Commission on 19 October 2009, the Commission has proposed a temporary withdrawal of some or all of Sri Lanka’s benefits under GSP+ to EU Member States in the Council.
»Read more
UN Rights Council Shielding Worst Abusers
December 14 2009 – UN Watch
As the UN General Assembly was set to today on approving the Human Rights Council’s past year of resolutions, a Geneva-based human rights monitoring group called on the U.S. and other democracies to vote in opposition, publishing a report claiming that 18 of its key resolutions were contrary to basic human rights principles.
“Paradoxically, as our report today shows, the U.N.’s main human rights body has turned into the world’s leading sponsor of impunity for gross human rights abuses worldwide,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
“It’s a case of the foxes guarding the chickens, with countries like China, Russia, Pakistan, Cuba and Saudi Arabia shielding each other’s abuses. Democracies should send a signal by opposing the council’s resolutions, even if they will be outvoted.”
UN Watch analyzed 30 of the key votes by the UN Human Rights Council in the past year, and found that 18 of them were counterproductive, including resolutions that praised Sri Lanka after it killed an estimated 20,000 civilians, and which praised Sudan for “progress” on human rights.
Despite ongoing massive abuses in Iran, the council has taken no action whatsoever.
»Read more
Sri Lanka Humanitarian update
December 04 2009 – UNHCR
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 4 December 2009, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
We are encouraged by the Sri Lankan government’s long-awaited decision this week to allow increased freedom of movement for some 135,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) remaining in 20 closed camps in Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee in the north of the country.
UNHCR field staff reported that over 7,000 IDPs from the Menik Farm camps in Vavuniya and another 25 people from the camp in Trincomalee left the IDP sites the first day the new policy of the Sri Lankan government came into force. Our teams are in the process of assessing the number of IDPs exercising their new freedom of movement over the past few days and report that people continue to leave the camps.
»Read more
The Elders Group call on Sri Lankan government to protect rights of civilians displaced by conflict
November 26 2009 – The Elders
The Elders – a group of eminent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela – have made a direct appeal to the President of Sri Lanka to protect the rights of civilians displaced after the government’s defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May.
Chair of The Elders, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, signed the letter on behalf of his fellow Elders, Martti Ahtisaari, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt, Lakhdar Brahimi, Gro Brundtland, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Jimmy Carter, Graça Machel and Mary Robinson.
The Elders say in their letter to the President that the continued confinement of approximately 135, 000 internally displaced people is a “clear violation of international law” and that these people are being denied basic human rights, including the right to liberty and freedom of movement.
The Elders have also written to Sri Lanka’s major donors, regional governments, international financial institutions, the UN Secretary-General and heads of relevant UN agencies, asking them to use their influence with the Sri Lankan government to ensure that basic conditions for equitable, inclusive and “conflict sensitive” development are put in place in the northern and eastern regions of the country.
»Read more
Sri Lanka’s promise to free displaced must be followed by concrete action
November 25 2009 – Amnesty International
Amnesty International has welcomed the government of Sri Lanka’s promise to lift by 1 December any restrictions on movement of at least 130,000 people displaced by the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).
“Now the Sri Lankan government needs to demonstrate that it will provide the displaced with necessary assistance such as shelter, food and security as they re-establish their homes,” said Madhu Malhotra, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific programme.
Hundreds and thousands of Tamils who escaped the war have been detained in camps under military control for the past six months, deprived of their freedom of movement. Many of them survived months of difficult conditions as they were forced to travel with retreating LTTE forces who forcibly recruited civilians, including children, and in some instances used civilians as human shields.
»Read more
Follow Us On