Sri Lanka, Human Rights and the United Nations: A Scrutiny into the International Human Rights Engagement with a Third World State (International Law and the Global South)

This book examines the engagement between the United Nationsâ#x80;#x99; human rights machinery and the respective governments since Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) joined the United Nations. Sri Lanka has a long and rich history of engagement with international human rights instruments. However, despite its active membership in the UN, the countryâ#x80;#x99;s post-colonial trials and tribulations are emblematic of the limited influence the international organisation has exerted on this country in the Global South. Assessing the impact of this international engagement on the countryâ#x80;#x99;s human rights infrastructure and situation, the book outlines Sri Lankaâ#x80;#x99;s colonial and post-colonial development. It then considers the development of a domestic human rights infrastructure in the country. It also examines and analyzes Sri Lankaâ#x80;#x99;s engagement with the UNâ#x80;#x99;s treaty-based and charter-based human rights bodies, before offering conclusions concerning the impact of said engagement. The book offers an innovative approach to gauging the impact of international human rights engagement, while also taking into account the colonial and post-colonial imperatives that have partly dictated governmental behaviour. By doing so, the book seeks to combine and analyse international human rights law, post-colonial critique, studies on biopower, and critical approaches to international law. It will be a useful resource not only for scholars of international law, but also for practitioners and activists working in this area Foreword 7 Acknowledgements 9 Contents 14 About the Author 18 1 Introduction 19 1.1 The Sri Lankan Human Rights Infrastructure and International Human Rights Engagement 19 1.2 The United Nations Human Rights Machinery 24 1.3 Sri Lanka’s Independence and the Introduction of Human Rights Law 26 1.4 Aims and Overview 28 1.4.1 Overarching Question and Aim of the Book 28 1.4.2 Overview 29 References 33 2 Sri Lanka’s History: Colonialism, Independence and Conflict 35 2.1 Introducing to Sri Lanka’s History 35 2.1.1 The History of the Island Before Its Independence in 1948 36 2.1.2 Migration and Indigenous Rule of the Island 37 2.1.3 A Myth Becoming an Essential Part of History and A Justification for Political Violence 42 2.1.4 The Actual History 44 2.1.5 Preparing Independence: The Constitutional Development of Sri Lanka 50 2.2 Post-colonial Sri Lanka, the Rise of Majoritarian Nationalism and the Creation of the “Other” 56 2.2.1 General Elections 1947—The Creation of Aristocratic Democracy and the Rise of Political Buddhism 56 2.2.2 General Elections 1956—The Rise of Linguistic Nationalism and Identity Formation 58 2.2.3 Inter-ethnic Riots 1956 and 1958 59 2.2.4 The Marxist Uprisings and the Violent Clampdown 62 2.2.5 The Presidential Elections 1982 64 2.2.6 Black July 1983 and the Beginning of the Civil War 67 2.2.7 The Absence of United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Sri Lanka—A Planned Failure? 70 2.3 The Colonial Legacy and Imprint on the Contemporary Human Rights Infrastructure 72 2.3.1 Education Policy 74 2.3.2 Construction of Identities, Communal Representation and Unitary State 75 2.3.3 Creation of Dynastic Democracy 76 2.3.4 The Soulbury Constitution 77 2.4 Concluding Comments 78 References 82 3 Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Infrastructure 86 3.1 Introduction 86 3.2 Legal Instruments for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 88 3.2.1 First Republican Constitution 88 3.2.2 Second Republican Constitution 1978 93 3.2.3 Human Rights Legislation 98 3.2.4 The Third Republican Constitution 111 3.3 Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 113 3.3.1 Human Rights Commission 113 3.3.2 Supreme Court 116 3.3.3 National Police Commission 120 3.3.4 Presidential Commission of Inquiries 121 3.3.5 Office on Missing Persons 122 3.3.6 Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission 123 3.4 Institutional Impediments to the Development of a Human Rights Infrastructure 127 3.4.1 Executive Presidency 128 3.4.2 Public Security Ordinance Act 1947 129 3.4.3 Prevention of Terrorism Act 1979 131 3.5 Concluding Comments 133 References 137 4 The United Nations Treaty-Based Bodies and Their Engagement with Sri Lanka 140 4.1 Introduction 140 4.2 The Role of the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies 141 4.3 Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Treaties Ratification and Implementation Record 150 4.4 Enabling an Open and Free Society: An Examination of Sri Lanka’s Interaction with the United Nations Human Rights Committee 153 4.5 Human Rights for All Without Racial Distinction: An Exploration into Sri Lanka’s Reporting to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 162 4.6 Torture and Decades of State of Emergency: Sri Lanka’s Engagement with the Committee Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 167 4.7 Concluding Comments 174 References 177 5 The United Nations Charter-Based Bodies and Their Engagement with Sri Lanka 180 5.1 Introduction 180 5.2 From the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to the United Nations Human Rights Council 181 5.3 Sri Lanka and the United Nations Human Rights Commission 189 5.3.1 Sri Lanka’s Interaction with the United Nations Human Rights Commission During the Ethnic Clashes of 1983 190 5.3.2 Sri Lanka and the Special Procedures Under the United Nations Commission on Human Rights 195 5.4 Sri Lanka and the United Nations Human Rights Council 203 5.4.1 Tackling Impunity and Achieving Accountability. Resolutions in the United Nations Human Rights Council: 2009–2016 205 5.4.2 Sri Lanka and the Special Procedures Under the United Nations Human Rights Council 216 5.5 Universal Periodic Reports of Sri Lanka 2008–2012: Words and Actual Actions Reviewed 224 5.6 Concluding Comments 228 References 233 6 Conclusion 235 6.1 Introduction 235 6.2 Reasons for the Contemporary State of Human Rights in Sri Lanka 236 6.2.1 Majoritarian Insularity Dominating Public Discourse 236 6.2.2 Perpetuating Majoritarianism Through the Executive Presidency and the State of Exception: The Marginalisation of Human Rights 240 6.2.3 An Island of Violence 243 6.3 Assessment of the United Nations Human Rights Involvement in Sri Lanka 246 6.3.1 The United Nations and International Law as a Trojan Horse of Post-colonialism 246 6.3.2 The Impact of International Scrutiny on the Ground of Human Rights Violators 248 6.3.3 Sri Lanka Is United Nations’ Nemesis 249 6.4 Final Remarks and Lessons from Sri Lanka 252 6.4.1 International Human Rights Law as the Law of Open States 252 6.4.2 The Necessity of International Human Rights Engagement in Situations of Poor or Non-existing Domestic and Regional Human Rights Infrastructures 253 6.4.3 International Legitimacy Through Human Rights Engagement 254 6.4.4 Human Rights Engagement as a Mobilizing Basis for Civil Society Actors and Development of Human Rights Infrastructure 256 6.4.5 Ireland and Sri Lanka: Two Islands of Violence 261 6.4.6 Pearl or Tear of the Indian Ocean—The Third World Approaches to International Law. Critique of International Human Rights Engagement From the Global South 262 References 267 Bibliography 271 Books 271 Journal Articles 275 Index 280 This book examines the engagement between the United Nationsâ#x80;#x99; human rights machinery and the respective governments since Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) joined the United Nations. Sri Lanka has a long and rich history of engagement with international human rights instruments. However, despite its active membership in the UN, the countryâ#x80;#x99;s post-colonial trials and tribulations are emblematic of the limited influence the international organisation has exerted on this country in the Global South. Assessing the impact of this international engagement on the countryâ#x80;#x99;s human rights infrastructure and situation, the book outlines Sri Lankaâ#x80;#x99;s colonial and post-colonial development. It then considers the development of a domestic human rights infrastructure in the country. It also examines and analyzes Sri Lankaâ#x80;#x99;s engagement with the UNâ#x80;#x99;s treaty-based and charter-based human rights bodies, before offering conclusions concerning the impact of said engagement. The book offers an innovative approach to gauging the impact of international human rights engagement, while also taking into account the colonial and post-colonial imperatives that have partly dictated governmental behaviour. By doing so, the book seeks to combine and analyse international human rights law, post-colonial critique, studies on biopower, and critical approaches to international law. It will be a useful resource not only for scholars of international law, but also for practitioners and activists working in this area Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introduction (Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan)....Pages 1-16 Sri Lanka’s History: Colonialism, Independence and Conflict (Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan)....Pages 17-67 Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Infrastructure (Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan)....Pages 69-122 The United Nations Treaty-Based Bodies and Their Engagement with Sri Lanka (Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan)....Pages 123-162 The United Nations Charter-Based Bodies and Their Engagement with Sri Lanka (Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan)....Pages 163-217 Conclusion (Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan)....Pages 219-254 Back Matter ....Pages 255-266