SUNIL JAYASIRI 
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US concerned over attempts to impeach CJ
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While expressing concern over the move to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, the United States today highlighted the necessity of strengthening judicial independence by ending government interference with the judicial process.
Speaking during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva, US Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said, “Especially in light of today’s news of the efforts to impeach the Chief Justice, the US recommended strengthening judicial independence by ending government interference with the judicial process, protecting members of the judiciary from attacks, and restoring a fair, independent and transparent mechanism to oversee judicial appointments.”
The full speech
The United States welcomes Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Plantation Industries and Special Envoy of H.E. The President on Human Rights and the Sri Lankan delegation to the UPR Working Group.
We note steps taken by the government of Sri Lanka to resettle IDPs, foster economic growth, improve infrastructure, and develop a National Action Plan for implementing a number of recommendations of the LLRC.”
“We remain concerned by the consolidation of executive power, including the passage of the 18th amendment, and that no agreement has been reached on political devolution. Former conflict zones remain militarized, and the military continues to encroach upon daily civilian and economic affairs. The Ministry of Defense has controlled the NGO secretariat since 2010.”
Serious human rights violations continue, including disappearances, torture, extra-judicial killings, and threats to freedom of expression. Opposition figures have been harassed, detained, and prosecuted. There have been no credible investigations or prosecutions for attacks on journalists and media outlets. In the past 30 days, a judge who questioned executive interference in the judiciary was severely beaten in broad daylight by multiple assailants and derogatory posters appeared in Colombo threatening the director of an NGO challenging a government bill that would weaken provincial councils. No arrests have been made.
Bearing in mind these concerns, the United States makes the following recommendations:
1) Implement the constructive recommendations of the LLRC, including the removal of the military from civilian functions; creation of mechanisms to address cases of the missing and detained; issuance of death certificates; land reform; devolution of power; and disarming paramilitaries.
2) Transfer NGO oversight to a civilian institution and protect freedom of expression and space for civil society to operate, by inter alia investigating and prosecuting attacks on media personnel and human rights defenders.
3) End impunity for human rights violations and fulfill legal obligations regarding accountability by initiating independent and transparent investigations, which meet international best practices, into alleged violations of international law and hold those found culpable to account.
4) Especially in light of today’s news of the efforts to impeach the Chief Justice, strengthen judicial independence by ending government interference with the judicial process, protecting members of the judiciary from attacks, and restoring a fair, independent, and transparent mechanism to oversee judicial appointments.
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