Sri Lanka presenting HR plan at UNHRC bypassing parliament unconstitutional - Opposition Leader

Sri Lankan government presenting the proposed National Human Rights Action Plan at the United Nations Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva next week without discussing it in the parliament is a violation of the Constitution, the Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe has said. Wickremasinghe, making a special statement in the parliament pointed out that the presenting the national action plan proposed for the protection and promotion of human rights bypassing the parliament violates the Article 43 of the Constitution.
The Article 43 of the Constitution says the Cabinet of Ministers is charged with the direction and control of the government, which shall be collectively responsible and answerable to Parliament. The Opposition Leader accused the government of deliberately keeping the parliament uninformed and asked why the government is presenting the Action Plan at the UNHRC in Geneva bypassing the parliament. "The government has a right to present whatever the document in Geneva but it is necessary to keep the house informed," he has said adding that it is a serious matter to breach parliamentary privileges. Acting Media Minister Laxman Yapa Abeywardena responding to the Opposition Leader's statement has said that the government will answer the questions on Thursday. The Cabinet of Ministers last September approved the National Human Rights Action Plan voluntarily prepared by the government in response to a pledge made at the Universal Periodic Review meeting before UN Human Rights Council in 2008. Through the implementation of the five-year action Plan, the government expects to strengthen civil liberties and ensure better human rights compliance. Meanwhile, the General Secretary of UNP, parliamentarian Tissa Attanayake addressing a media briefing today said the government does not have a proper plan to face the resolution that will be moved against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC sessions. He accused the government of purposely neglecting to counter the ideologies put forward against Sri Lanka by the international community and media and to properly respond to the UN panel of experts report. "If the recommendations of the LLRC (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission) Report can be implemented we will be able to counter the charges that will be leveled against Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council to some extent,'' Attanayake noted. Sri Lankan government is under increasing pressure from Western governments and human rights organizations to improve its abysmal human rights record amid the allegations of war crimes committed during the final stages of the 30-year long bloody battle with the Tamil Tiger terrorists.