A/HRC/40/23 bearing in mind the mandate of the institution to advise on human rights compliance of draft legislation. 34. The adjudication of security detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act remains a matter of concern among the Tamil community, which has identified it as a matter of confidence-building. According to information provided by the Government, as at 25 January 2019, 58 individuals detained under the Act were facing trial and three suspects were awaiting indictment. 35. The return of land occupied by the military in the Northern and Eastern Provinces has continued. In early October 2018, President Sirisena indicated that all civilian land in the North and the East would be released by the end of 2018.10 According to government figures, around 75 per cent of the land held in 2009 has already been returned.11 Government figures also indicated that, as at 31 December 2018, 46,322 acres of land (of which 40,490 acres of State land and 5,833 acres of private land) had been released between January 2015 and December 2018, including 5,797 acres (of which 4,738 acres of State land and 1,059 acres of private land) in 2018 alone. Government plans in March 2018 indicated, however, the need for the security forces to retain 36,002 acres, including 5,327 acres of private land. While the High Commissioner acknowledges the significant amount of land returned to date, she still has concerns about the process; for example, some restitutions have been only partial or incomplete, allowing for access to dwellings but not to livelihood resources (such as agricultural land or fishing resources) or vice versa. On other occasions, public services, such as schools, remain unavailable. There have also been cases of property being destroyed shortly before it was to be returned. Furthermore, communities have complained about new land grabs and other contentious land issues, such as alleged “colonization” through the establishment of irrigation, forestry and archaeological projects, and of continued military involvement in economic activities. Such situations prevent the resumption of livelihoods, unlike what was encouraged by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 30/1. 36. The military should only retain land when strictly necessary for security purposes, with proper compensation paid to those dispossessed. As recommended by the High Commissioner in previous reports, independent mechanisms should determine such matters. Moreover, the emotionally and politically charged issue of land, with regard to both individual ownership and communities’ sense of belonging to a given area, should be addressed in a sensitive manner, not least because it is considered by many stakeholders one of the root causes of conflict. Any State-promoted settlement of people or land acquisition on cultural, archaeological, development or environmental grounds should be carefully considered, given the adverse impact on reconciliation. Decision-making with regard to relocation and resettlement should be made through transparent processes and following meaningful consultation with the people and the communities affected. 37. In accordance with the process agreed upon by the United Nations and the Government of Sri Lanka, and consistent with the policy on human rights screening of United Nations personnel, all Sri Lankan individuals and units nominated by the Government for service with the United Nations should be screened on human rights grounds by a domestic human rights screening mechanism established with the support of the United Nations and involving the Human Rights Commission. The High Commissioner notes that the integrity and the effectiveness of the screening process will significantly depend on the independence of the Human Rights Commission and the ongoing cooperation of relevant institutions. 10 11 8 See www.president.gov.lk/president-instructs-the-governors-to-intervene-in-freeing-the-lands-ofnorth-eastern-provinces-before-31st-of-december/. As at 30 September 2018, security forces retained 17,793 acres in the Northern Province (4,162 acres of private land and 13,631 of State land) and 12,520 acres in the Eastern Province (131 acres of private land and 12,390 of State land). The total occupation in both provinces amounted to 30,313 acres (26,021 State land and 4,293 private land), which is around 25 per cent of the amount occupied in 2009 (118,910 acres).