National Peace Council welcomes SL decision to accede to the Ottawa Treaty

The National Peace Council has welcomed the government's decision to accept the challenge of governance in the future according to international standards by acceding to the Optional Protocol on the Convention against Torture that allows for greater international scrutiny of a country’s detention facilities and the Ottawa Treaty to ban landmines. Previous Sri Lankan governments had resisted acceding to these international instruments on the grounds of national security even while agreeing to their content in principle the NPC has said in a statement.

The mine ban treaty bans anti-personnel landmines, requires destruction of stockpiles and the clearance of mined areas, and assistance to victims who have suffered landmine injuries while the Optional Protocol of the Convention against Torture permits visits by independent international and national bodies to places of detention in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This too is a forward-looking commitment as it seeks to ensure that present practices do not permit torture and the violation of human rights they said.

However, the NCP also noted the government’s slowness in implementing promises made in regard to human rights and justice issues that arose in the course of the war and postwar period. “This has led to doubts about the government’s intentions in regard to the implementation of those commitments,” the release said.