Sri Lankan human rights groups debrief on third review

In the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s third Universal Periodic Review, a diverse group of national human rights defenders met to discuss how to optimise their involvement in the follow-up phase. The specific focus of the meeting was to identify ways that civil society can support the Government in implementing received recommendations. To this end, participants developed action strategies mapping out their UPR activities leading up to the next review, and a suggested implementation plan detailing their expectations on the Government. A Commissioner from the national human rights institution joined for the first day and lead a much-appreciated discussion on the role of the Human Rights Commission in the UPR.

To facilitate the three-day workshop, the CSO collective in Sri Lanka had translated the draft UPR report to local languages. The gathering proved a strong manifestation of the cooperative approach employed by Sri Lankan civil society in the UPR, bringing together activists from the Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim communities.

The activity marked the third step in a series of events aimed at boosting national ownership of the UPR through regular dialogues between all stakeholders.