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Sri Lankan issuing a statement at the 56th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on Tuesday 18th April, announced its support for the Norwegian initiative to establish an international mechanism on human rights defenders. The Sri Lankan statement pays tribute to Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam as a human rights defender and condemns the killing of Mr. Kumar Ponnambalam. Observing that "every human being is also a human rights defender, as human beings are both the beneficiaries and promoters of human rights", the Sri Lankan statement reiterates that "Sri Lanka is interested in all actions relevant to human rights defenders at the international, regional, national and grass roots levels". The Sri Lankan statement further says that "human rights defenders and those who seek democratic alternatives to violent dissension, are constantly at risk" and shared the view that "the best way to expose those responsible for these acts of terror and violence, will be to have an impartial and neutral mechanism to ensure not only the rights, but the safety of human rights defenders and those who work for democratic dissent". The statement also reminds that although 'some governments may not like to hear what the human rights defenders say, all democratic governments have an obligation to protect their right to say it". It further added, "Sri Lanka therefore, feels that this session of the Commission should take a bold decision to create a mechanism to address the problems faced by the human rights defenders". When the subject of human rights defenders came up under Agenda Item 17 of the Human Rights Commission, several tributes were paid to the late Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvam, including one by Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Human Rights Watch and the Minority Rights Group. Sri Lanka was the first developing country in Asia to co-sponsor this Western initiative led by Norway. This resolution is generally seen as the most important initiative coming out of the present session of the Human Rights Commission and a number of Western delegations, as well as international NGOs such as Amnesty International, ICJ and Human Rights Watch have commended Sri Lanka's active support for this initiative, which is seen as a demonstration of Sri Lanka's commitment to international human rights norms as well as its open and accountable policy on human rights. Sri Lanka has taken effective action with regard to improving the human rights situation, including elaborate institutional measures to provide compensation and rehabilitation to victim families. It is significant to note that no government delegation has made any adverse comment on Sri Lanka at the current session of the CHR. Furthermore, the main UN investigative arm on disappearance, the UN Working Group on Disappearances has praised the Sri Lankan Government's openness and co-operation with regard to preventive and investigative action to combat disappearances. It is significant that the Sri Lankan Government has taken both internal and international action to investigate disappearance and prosecute offenders even when the guilty happen to be members of the armed forces on operational duty in the midst to of an armed conflict. The Chairman of the UN Working Group on Disappearances (UNWG) has signed out Sri Lanka's case as an example where a Government had offered voluntary co-operation to share its experience with international human rights machinery. The general report as well as the Mission report (on Sri Lanka) submitted by the Working Group of the current session of the Human Rights Commission has acknowledged that the scale and intensity of the disappearances and allegations thereof have diminished to a great extent. In his introductory statement to the 56th session of the CHR, the UNWG Chairman Mr. Ivan Tosevski has "gratefully acknowledged" the "valuable cooperation from the Government of Sri Lanka" it received during the visit of the Working Group to the island in October last year. He has stated that "no obstacle were encountered by the Group in receiving representatives of non-governmental organisations, witnesses and relatives of missing persons." Sri Lanka may also be the only country which invited national and international independent bodies and NGOs to observe the judicial process of investigation into disappearance (Chemmani) in the midst of an armed conflict. Other countries that co-sponsored the resolution on human rights defenders are: The Republic of Korea, Greece, Austria, Costa Rica, Denmark, Chile, Belgium, Nigeria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Hungary, Germany, Ireland, Spain, New Zealand, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, United States of America, Norway, Morocco, South Africa, Guatemala, Botswana, Finland, Romania, Estonia, Portugal, Australia, United Kingdom, Poland, Canada, Senegal, Canada, Senegal, Nicaragua, Japan, Bulgaria, San Marino, Venezuela, Paraguay, Malta and Armenia.
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