Three training programmes on policy rights for religious leaders, government officials, health service officers, civil society members, university students and police officers were conducted in Kalutara, Trincomalee and Kandy under NPC’s project National Language Equality Advancement Project (NLEP) conducted by lawyer Jagath Liyana Arachichi.

NPC’s Technical Assistance to Justice Institutions in Sri Lanka project held a three day residential training of trainers programme on the prevention of hate speech for 60 master trainers and ten district coordinators. It was conducted by Professor Kalinga Tudor Silva from the University of Peradeniya. He explained the sociological frame work of hate speech, the role and responsibilities of the Office on Missing Persons and the steps taken by the government for granting reparations.

There are two aspects to the process unfolding in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva at the present time. The first is the outcome of the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet which was released on January 27. The second will be resolution of the UN Human Rights Council itself which is in the process of being finalized, and of which a draft is available. It is this latter document that will be debated in the final days of the 46th session of the UNHRC later this month. This will be the document that sets out the expectation of the UNHRC in terms of implementation by Sri Lanka.

With the Zero Draft in circulation there is no longer any doubt that a resolution on Sri Lanka will be presented at the forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council later this month. This resolution will be presented by a core group of countries led by the United Kingdom and will be supported by the United States which, though not a current member of the UNHRC, has opted to return to it under the presidency of Joe Biden. This will be a powerful combination for a small country like Sri Lanka to challenge. It does not appear that Sri Lanka will present its own counter resolution. There was perhaps a miscalculation of the waning power of the western countries in the face of the rise of China. The western powers continue to dominate international institutions. The absence of a coherent foreign policy is reflective of the much greater power of the countries that Sri Lanka is having to contend with.