Participants at meetings with SR
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2020-122-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2020
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 7.87305399999999
Longitude: 80.7717969999999
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Sri Lanka
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Type of record
- Unnamed individual/group/organization
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Type of rights defended
- Unclear in SG Report
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- Dates of engagement
- July 2019
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Before, during and after his consultations
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- Trincomalee; Unclear
- Reprisal information
Following his July 2019 visit to Sri Lanka, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association condemned surveillance of members of civil society, including that he witnessed, and reminded the Government that it has an obligation to ensure that no acts of reprisal occur against those who wish to interact with UN human rights mechanisms. 92 The Special Rapporteur stated that before, during and after his consultations with civil society in Sri Lanka, participants at the meetings reported “receiving intimidating phone calls, demanding information on other participants, topics discussed and route plans.” The Special Rapporteur further noted that during a consultation in Trincomalee, “presumed intelligence personnel in civilian clothing were observed monitoring participants outside of the meeting place. In another location, military personnel took note of our vehicles’ number plates.” 93
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Surveillance
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- Yes
- Government response dates
- 8 July 2020
- Government response content
responded to the note verbale sent in connection to the present report. Regarding alleged “intimidating visits”, “surveillance”, “complaints of harassment” and “reprisals”, it invited the parties concerned to make formal complaints to law enforcement authorities, or to independent national institutions such as the Human Rights Commission or the National Police Commission, so that action can be taken to investigate the alleged incidents. The Government stated its commitment to ensuring that complaints received are investigated and prosecuted. It reiterated that, apart from routine security operations in the interest of national security, particularly after the devastating Easter Sunday terrorist attacks of 21 April 2019, the Security Forces and intelligence agencies are not engaged in monitoring any specific group in the country.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 0