A/HRC/45/45/Add.1 for the design and implementation of the robust and comprehensive transitional justice policy Sri Lanka has committed itself to achieving. 22. The Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms was established by the Government but run entirely by deeply committed members of civil society. In an extraordinarily short period, without pre-existing structures and sometimes with only limited government support, the Task Force has established its presence broadly and deeply, including at the local level. This is the most comprehensive effort to capture the views of victims and others on transitional justice questions. The Task Force’s report 6 should certainly be part of all conversations regarding the design of transitional justice measures. 23. The Special Rapporteur notes the progress achieved in the creation – albeit after a long delay and insufficient consultations – of the Office on Missing Persons and the appointment of commissioners in 2018, for a period of three years. The Office has held six consultations with stakeholders around the country, offered technical training on investigations to staff, adopted a communications campaign, issued a first interim report and opened 4 of its planned 12 regional offices. 24. He also notes the establishment of the Office for Reparations and the appointment of commissioners in April 2019. The Office for Reparations Act (Act No. 34 of 2018) clarifies some linkages with the Office on Missing Persons, which is important. In its first interim report, the Office on Missing Persons identified the provision of short-term relief to families of victims as a priority (the Government committed SL Rs 6,000, equal to $33.04, per month per family until finally requiring a 2019 budget allocation of SL Rs 500 million, equal to $2,754,062) clarifying that “interim relief in the form of welfare or other measures does not amount to reparations. Victims retain their right to reparations even if they accept interim relief from the State”. This is a point that should be continuously stressed.7 25. The final observable change from early 2015 to late 2017 is the opening up of space for discussing transitional justice with more stakeholders, including youth groups, academic institutions, the media, the diaspora and the armed forces. However, the constitutional crises and their aftershocks have led to an abrupt shrinking of that space and a temporary near-shuttering of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms. Changes in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs too have led to a hardened tone on human rights, as witnessed during the fortieth session of the Human Rights Council, in March 2019. 26. It is evident that this list of achievements does not include most of the priority measures that the Special Rapporteur mentioned at the end of his first visit, in 2015,8 which shows how painfully slow progress has been. Those priorities had been articulated by the Government in its 100-day programme and were shared with the international community in Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, co-sponsored by Sri Lanka. 27. Some of the pending confidence-building measures that would facilitate the adoption of a comprehensive transitional justice policy include: the release of land, the replacement of the Prevention of Terrorism Act with legislation that complies with human rights standards, the establishment of a mechanism to review expeditiously the cases of persons held under the Act and the cessation of overbearing and intimidating forms of surveillance, especially against women, human rights activists and persons involved in memorialization initiatives in the North and East. 28. In addition, none of the constituent elements of a transitional justice policy, namely, justice initiatives, truth-seeking mechanisms, reparations programmes and guarantees of non-recurrence are fully in place. The failure to achieve progress constitutes denial of justice for victims. 6 7 8 The report was available from the websites of the Task Force and of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms, but these have been taken down by the present government. The human rights action plan that was posted on the website of the Prime Minister’s Office has also been removed. The report of the Task Force can still be found at https://sitesatrisksl.wordpress.com/2016/05/11/secretariat-for-coordinating-reconciliationmechanisms/amp/?__twitter_impression=true. See https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/bd81c0_3a8b43afeb334c66b2233cbeac3b3fcf.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15820&LangID=E. 5