A/HRC/43/19 all Sri Lankans and to the international community, and promised to underpin a peacebuilding process after three decades of devastating conflict. 7. Nearly five years after the adoption of resolution 30/1, some progress has been made, but the Government has been unable to deal comprehensively with the past, risking a repeating cycle of violence and human rights violations. The High Commissioner is concerned by various signs indicating a possible reversal of past commitments by the Government, which would set back the promotion of reconciliation, accountability and human rights, reduce civic space and erode important institutional safeguards in Sri Lanka. The overall goals of resolution 30/1 must be protected and built upon to provide justice and redress to victims, guarantee the non-recurrence of past patterns of human rights violations and promote peaceful, inclusive and sustainable development. II. Engagement of the Government with the Office of the High Commissioner and United Nations human rights mechanisms 8. The Government of Sri Lanka has maintained regular engagement with the United Nations system, including with OHCHR, during the reporting period. OHCHR has provided technical assistance to the Government in a number of areas, including support to the Office on Missing Persons, the Office for Reparations and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. OHCHR has supported the Resident Coordinator and the United Nations country team in developing programmatic activities and mainstreaming human rights in accordance with the 2030 Agenda. 9. Sri Lanka has maintained a standing invitation to all special procedures since December 2015. It received visits from the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, in July 2017 (A/HRC/40/52/Add.3), and the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, in September 2018 (A/HRC/40/57/Add.2). Missions were also conducted by the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, in July 2019, 3 and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, in August 2019. 4 10. With regard to treaty bodies, the Committee on the Rights of the Child considered the report submitted by Sri Lanka under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, in May 2019 (CRC/C/OPSC/LKA/CO/1). The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment visited the country in April 2019. 5 The High Commissioner welcomes the formal designation by the Government, in July 2019, of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka as the national prevention mechanism pursuant to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. III. Developments in reconciliation, accountability and human rights 11. During 2019, various events had a significant impact on the political and human rights context in Sri Lanka. 12. On 21 April 2019, seven coordinated suicide bomb attacks occurred in three Christian churches, in Colombo, Batticaloa and Negombo, and three high-end hotels and a small guest house in Colombo. As a result of these terrorist crimes, more than 250 people 3 4 5 See end-of-mission statement, 26 July 2019. Available at www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/ Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24818&LangID=E. See end-of-mission statement, 26 August 2019. Available at www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/ Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24918&LangID=E. OHCHR, “UN torture prevention body concludes visit to Sri Lanka”, 12 April 2019. 3