Advocacy groups raise concerns over SL troops being deployed for UN peacekeeping in Haiti

International human rights and victims’ groups call on the United Nations, the Government of Haiti and the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) Standing Committee to immediately suspend the planned deployment of reportedly 900 Sri Lankan soldiers and 140 police officers to Haiti, scheduled to proceed imminently, pending the establishment of an independent credible vetting and screening mechanism conducted with meaningful Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) participation and access to all relevant UN information, a collective statement from advocacy group said. 

“Any official whose conduct, command role, or prior involvement may give rise to an actual or perceived conflict of interest should play no role in supervising, certifying or approving that process, “ the statement said. 

Fourteen signatories in the collective statement include International Truth & Justice Project (ITJP), UK, Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice (SLC), UK, People for Equality & Relief in Lanka (PEARL), USA, British Tamil Conservatives (BTC), UK, Tamils for Labour, UK, Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), Australia, British Tamils Forum (BTF), UK, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), Sri Lanka, North-East Coordinating Committee (NECC), Sri Lanka, Mannar Economic & Social Development Organisation (MSEDO), Sri Lanka, United States Tamil Action Group (USTAG), USA, Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ), International Centre for Prevention & Prosecution of Genocide (ICPPG), UK and Association of Exiled Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared in Sri Lanka (AEREDSLUK), UK. 

Whether the final contingent consists of 900 personnel or a smaller number, the advocacy groups stressed that “the fundamental concern remains unchanged: no individual should be deployed without an independent assessment of

involvement in past violations,” 

“Our understanding is that currently the screening of Sri Lankan peacekeepers for the GSF relies primarily on information supplied by the Sri Lankan authorities, together with diplomatic and administrative checks. While the UN and specifically OHCHR have indicated that vetting measures are being undertaken, the precise criteria, methodology, scope and degree of independence of that process remain unclear. None of the publicly described measures amount to a transparent and independently verifiable human rights screening mechanism” the statement reads. 

The fact that at least one candidate has already been rejected by the American Embassy illustrates exactly the gap this leaves: if the Sri Lankan military is putting forward individuals with known human rights red flags, a process that relies on their good faith has already failed, it noted.

This deployment from a country - whose security forces have been repeatedly implicated in serious violation of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and conflict-related sexual violence, and where accountability for such violations remain largely absent, - is proceeding without a credible independent human rights vetting and screening mechanism. 

“The resulting risk is not merely theoretical, it is foreseeable, well documented and is incompatible with the standards that the

UN has committed itself to uphold” the statement said.