General situation addressed (2011, Sri Lanka)
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2011-069-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2011
- 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
- Dates of prior UN action
- 28 February 2011
- Type of record
- General situation addressed
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
Cooperation with the Human Rights Council and special procedures mandate holders
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Human Rights Council - General
- UN Special Procedures: UN Special Procedures - General
- Dates of engagement
- Unclear
- Type of attempted engagement
- Unclear
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Unclear
- Reprisal information
Climate of fear, including criminalization of threats and intimidation against human rights defenders particularly journalists and lawyers working on human rights issues.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- Unclear
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- Yes
- 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?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2013
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
In previous reports I made reference to the climate of fear that human rights defenders experience in Sri Lanka. 31 During the twenty-second session of the Human Rights Council, the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka circulated a letter, in which it described the screening of a film about Sri Lanka by non-governmental organizations as: efforts on the part of entities based overseas with links to rump elements of the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam], as well as certain non-governmental organizations with accreditation by the Economic and Social Council, in facilitating programmes containing unsubstantiated material that is morphed and diabolical. This approach [...] serves to strengthen the rump elements of the LTTE seeking refuge in the West, who use the propaganda value derived from the screening of this film as a tool to intensify their fundraising and recruitment activities, thereby undermining the process of reconciliation in Sri Lanka. 32 Such statements could have the effect of undermining the work of human rights defenders monitoring the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka.
- Followup Trends 0
- Deterioration/further reprisals
- Did the government respond? 0
- No