Sri Lanka Newsletter

Frederic Dufour/ICRC Frederic NEWSLETTER JANUARY-MARCH 2015 A SUSTAINED COMMITMENT Addressing overcrowding in prisons Dear Reader criminal justice process, the lack or underuse Rooting out the causes of overcrowding of alternatives to detention, also prevail. in prisons involve the collective efforts In February this year, the Ministry of Justice of multiple stakeholders. The sustained The ICRC, which throughout the world and Labour Relations, supported by the ICRC, political will of decision makers is required visits places of detention to ensure the brought together its senior officials and key to take ownership to identify the causes of welfare of detainees, is observing a stakeholders in the criminal justice process at overcrowding, develop measures to combat worrying trend where in many countries a high-level roundtable, which set up a task its causes, monitor the implementation criminal policy is used to address social force to look at the legal and judicial causes of these measures, and adjust them as problems. This systematically leads to of overcrowding in the country’s prisons. necessary over time. In Sri Lanka, the an increase in the imprisonment of poor Additionally, the task force will recommend long-term commitment of the Prisons and marginalised populations, which are steps to minimize overcrowding and monitor Department, Judiciary, and law enforcement often charged with petty and non-violent their implementation. The event was a agencies will enable a translation of this offences, through measures such as significant step towards addressing the issue process into action, under the leadership of mandatory minimum sentencing laws, an of overcrowding. the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations. increase in the use of long-term sentences While countries are yet to recognize that and life sentences, changes in eligibility Underscoring this multi-pronged drive will overcrowding is an issue, and identify for early release, and the inappropriate be the role of civil society, including the the implication of the problems linked use of imprisonment for populations media to sensitise the public. It is important to it, a few countries are already working in need of medical care and/or social for the public to understand the social and towards developing measures to reduce welfare. The focus is increasingly on the economic cost of an unusually high incidence overcrowding and to develop a fair and repression of criminality rather than on its of imprisonment, as well as the profile of the balanced approach towards imprisonment. prevention. majority of detainees (i.e. petty offenders or The response of the Government of Sri Lanka vulnerable categories of the population) and In countries where punitive criminal justice has been encouraging. Setting up the task their plight in prisons. force and the commitment displayed by the policies are promoted, non-violent offenders stakeholders present at the roundtable are who have committed minor offences are The ICRC Delegation in Sri Lanka steps in the right direction to address the more likely to be detained. Overcrowding in issue. turn hampers the rehabilitation work of the prison services, giving rise to recidivism. Such The causes of overcrowding are similar in tough-on-crime policies and rhetoric have most countries and include socio-economic also been proven to not be cost effective, and legal reasons. Challenges which are because the high cost of maintaining prisons inherent in the justice system such as and inmates has a negative impact on the difficulties in implementing bail, delays in the State budget. NEWSLETTER THE FAMILIES OF THE MISSING NEED TO KNOW a result of the past conflict, and released rehabilitees – of the ICRC’s livelihood support programmes. The ICRC provides them cash grants to start or consolidate an income- generating activity to enable them to have a sustainable livelihood. In Kilinochchi, he met with a farming community which receives livelihood support from the ICRC under the Community Based Livelihood Support M S Kamil/ICRC Programme. “Livelihood support is given to the most vulnerable in the former conflict areas”, said Mr Stillhart. “But at household level, needs remain and more support is required”, he ICRC’s Director of Operations, Dominic Stillhart, addresses a farming community in Kilinochchi added. supported by the organisation’s Community Based Livelihood Support Programme. Mr Stillhart visited a school in the North, accountability. The ICRC acknowledges that The Director of Operations of the ICRC, where the ICRC had constructed an accountability is important, but it will play no Dominic Stillhart, who visited Sri Lanka overhead water tank, and a community for role in its process”, he explained. last month, reiterated the organisation’s whom a well was built. These are some of commitment to its humanitarian response During meetings, a proposal to set up an the ICRC’s efforts to provide rural returnee to the families of the missing, to persons independent domestic mechanism to clarify communities, including school children, who are in detention, and to vulnerable the fate of missing persons was discussed. better access to water and sanitation. households in the former conflict areas. Such a mechanism should be politically He was encouraged by the Sri Lankan independent because it must have the trust Mr Stillhart, during an official visit to authorities’ response to address of all parties who have been affected. To the country between 16 and 20 March, overcrowding in the country’s prisons. ensure its independence is strengthened, had meetings with senior government Recently, the Ministry of Justice and Labour it should be financially autonomous and officials including the Prime Minister, Ranil Relations, with the support of the ICRC, established by an Act of parliament. The Wickremasinghe, and the Minister of Foreign spearheaded an initiative to set up a task mechanism should be correctly constituted Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera. force of relevant stakeholders to deal with to represent parties who have been affected, the issue. In these meetings, he renewed the and must therefore include families of organisation’s support to the government’s missing persons and their representatives As part of the ICRC’s support to build efforts to clarify the fate of persons who have such as family associations. the capacity of forensics in the country, gone missing during the past conflict. Mr Stillhart conveyed to authorities the While in the country, Mr Stillhart travelled organisation’s willingness to develop to the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts “What the families of these missing persons guidelines on the management of the dead to meet with beneficiaries – women- want to know is the fate and whereabouts and deliver training on the management of headed households, persons disabled as of their loved one”, said Mr Stillhart. mass graves. “Ascertaining the fate of their missing relative is the best way to bring closure to these families. However, the missing should not be seen through the same prism as M S Kamil/ICRC M S Kamil/ICRC A Water and Habit field officer (far right) relates the water quality testing process to Mr Stillhart and the former Deputy Head of the Colombo delegation, David Quesne Livelihood support to empower the woman-headed household: Mr Stillhart visits a grocery store (centre). run by a beneficiary of the ICRC’s Micro Economic Initiatives programme. SRI LANKA TO START A FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMME At the end of the workshop, four committees Asia, Shuala Drawdy, said “human remains “Human remains are being were established, comprising representatives are being discovered now – mass graves discovered now – mass graves of the ICRC, PGIA, CFPSL, and the University of skeletal remains that need to be of skeletal remains that need to of Colombo, to deal with the preliminary professionally recovered and analysed so that be professionally recovered and tasks to consolidate the programme, namely, they may contribute to justice processes, and analysed so that they may contribute identifying sustainable sources of funding, even more importantly, so that the dead may to justice processes, and even recruiting an external Forensic Anthropologist be given back their names, restoring their more importantly, so that the dead to serve as lecturer, developing a curriculum dignity and honour, and may be returned to may be given back their names, framework and its timeline for implementation, their loved ones. Therefore, a true expertise restoring their dignity and honour, and setting up a laboratory. in Forensic Anthropology is essential for and may be returned to their loved Sri Lanka.” She also emphasised that the ones. Therefore, a true expertise in In addition, participants concurred that to programme should be comprehensive and Forensic Anthropology is essential maintain standards of teaching, the number be able to build sustainable local capacity for Sri Lanka.” - The ICRC’s Regional of students in a class will be limited to ten. with an “eye to the future”. “It should envision Forensic Coordinator for South Asia, They also discussed infrastructure needs and contributing to the Forensic Anthropology Shuala Drawdy the requirement to work with other experts. research dialogue, not only to develop testing methods specifically applicable to the The ICRC’s Deputy Head of Forensic Services Steps are being taken to launch Sri Lanka’s Sri Lankan population, but also as relevant to in Geneva, Oran Finegan, highlighted

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