Sri Lankans who travelled to Geneva to attend sessions of the Human Rights Council
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2020-120-001
- 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
- Assistant Secretary-General
- UN (Dep.) High Commissioner on Human Rights
- Dates of prior UN action
- February 2020; December 2019
- Type of record
- General situation addressed
- 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
- Reported trigger of reprisal
Sri Lankans who travelled to Geneva to attend sessions of the Human Rights Council
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Human Rights Council - General
- Dates of engagement
- Unclear
- Type of attempted engagement
- Participation in meeting on UN premises
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Before travel or after return
- Reprisal information
harassment or surveillance of human rights defenders and victims of human rights violations increased during 2019 and “in some cases, Sri Lankans who travelled to Geneva to attend sessions of the Human Rights Council were questioned about the motives of their trips, either at the airport or during visits by the police to their homes upon their return”
- 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