AJITH SIRIWARDANA 
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Decline in disappearances,unlawful killings in SL: US HR report 2014
The 2014 Human Rights Report issued by the US State Department, in its section on Sri Lanka has noted a comparative decrease in involuntary disappearances and unlawful killings in relation to the immediate postwar period but has noted a series of many other human rights violations that occurred due to governance issues stemming from Rajapaksa-family dominance.
The report which was released yesterday notes that among the major violations of human rights were ‘attacks on, and harassment of, civil society activists, journalists, and persons viewed as sympathizers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by individuals allegedly tied to the government; involuntary disappearances, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, abuse of detainees, rape, and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence committed by police and security forces; and widespread impunity for a broad range of human rights abuses. . .”
Despite the drop in involuntary disappearances and unlawful killings, the report states that media institutions, NGOs and critics of the government were harassed, threatened and attacked by pro-government loyalists which had led to ‘widespread fear and self-censorship by journalists’ that had contributed to deterioration of democratic activity.
The 2014 HR report has also emphasized that military officials implicated in human rights abuses that allegedly occurred during the conflict are yet to be held accountable for alleged violations of international humanitarian law.
It has also referred to the clashes that occurred in the South last year, noting the activities of the Bodu Bala Sena – their attacks and assaults on civilians and members of religious minorities. Among the other human rights abuses noted in the report that occurred last year in Sri Lanka include unlawful killings by security forces, infringement of the government on citizens' privacy rights, neglecting the rights of internally displaced persons, maintaining constitutional authority to maintain control of appointments to previously independent public institutions that oversee the judiciary, police and human rights issues as well as the corruption and lack of transparency of the previous government led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.(LP)
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