UN expert Pablo de Greiff to review progress in Sri Lanka

 

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Pablo de Greiff, will carry out an official visit to Sri Lanka from October 10 to 23, the United Nations said today. 

The UN said in a statement de Greiff would examine the progress made in redressing the legacies of massive past violations and abuses, including those that resulted from a conflict that spanned more than 25 years.

“My visit aims to review the progress made thus far, to identify obstacles and bottlenecks in the implementation of the transitional justice and reform process, and to discuss opportunities with the Government and Sri Lankan society to overcome these,” said de Greiff.

In 2015, the Government of Sri Lanka committed itself to designing and implementing a comprehensive transitional justice strategy.

The human rights expert will meet Government officials at central and provincial levels, representatives of the legislature, members of the judiciary, the armed forces, law enforcement officials, religious leaders, political parties, the Human Rights Commission, civil society, victims’ groups, academics and representatives of the international community.

He is scheduled to visit Colombo as well as other locations in the south, centre, north and east of the country.

The final report on the visit will be presented to the Human Rights Council in September 2018.