• The committee inquired about the non-operation of the data system of the commission provided by UNDP

By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

The attention of the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) had taken the Human Rights Commission to task for its poor performance over the recent times.  

Officials of the Human Rights Commission were summoned to the recent meeting of COPA which was held recently with the participation of its Chairman Lasantha Alagiyawanna.   

The committee inquired about the non-operation of the data system of the commission provided by UNDP. The officials of Human Rights Commission informed that this data system is functioning but accepted that there is a weakness when it comes to data entry from regional offices. Officials representing the regional offices said that officers will be deployed to the regional offices soon to enter the data locally. COPA has requested that the matter should be implemented as soon as possible.  

Attention was also paid to the filling of the existing vacancies in the commission and the COPA recommended that the existing vacancies be filled quickly.   Also, the number of complaints received by this commission and the number of complaints resolved so far were discussed. Thus, the committee pointed out the need to act quickly to resolve the number of complaints that have not yet been resolved by the Commission. 

 
It was also decided to summon the commission back to the committee on January 24, 2024. Chairman Alagiyawanna stressed that it was important for the Human Rights Commission to maintain public trust.  
State Ministers Prasanna Ranaweera, Mohan Priyadarshana de Silva, Diana Gamage, MPs Tissa Attanayake, J.C. Alavatuwala, Ashok Abeysinghe, Weerasumana Weerasinghe and Mudita Prishanthi participated at the meeting.