A/HRC/25/23 implement an additional 53 recommendations,19 bringing the total to 145 recommendations. At the universal periodic review of Sri Lanka in November 2012, the Government stated that some of the remaining Commission recommendations fell under the ambit and scope of the national plan of action for the protection and promotion of human rights (2011-2016), progress reports on which are not available in the public domain. 31. In many instances, however, the specified activity in the national plan of action does not fully correspond to or address the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, or the activity has been only partially completed. For instance, while recommendation 9.73 calls for the investigation of allegations against illegal armed groups, the corresponding activity is the disarming of armed groups.20 32. In other examples, recommendation 9.46 called upon the Government to direct law enforcement authorities to take immediate steps to ensure that allegations of abductions, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention are properly investigated and perpetrators brought to justice. The corresponding activity identified by the Government does not respond to the call for investigations, but focuses on the capacity-building of police and community policing.21 Recommendation 9.270 called for the establishment of interfaith mechanisms to facilitate early warning and prevention of communal or religious violence, but this is being implemented by civil defence committees established by the Ministry of Defence during the war.22 33. Little progress has been made with other key recommendations relating to justice and accountability issues, a core concern for the Human Rights Council; for instance, recommendation 9.120 urged the Government to implement the recommendations of the report of the presidential commission of inquiry (the Udalagama Commission) appointed in 2006 to investigate alleged serious violations of human rights committed since August 2005,23 particularly the killing of five students in Trincomalee, in January 2006, and of 17 aid workers of Action contre la Faim, in August 2006. Limited progress has been reported under the national plan of action on these two cases (see paras. 47 – 64 below); furthermore, the plan does not address any of the other 13 high-profile cases investigated by the Udalagama Commission, including the murder of a former Minister for Foreign Affairs and of other parliamentarians, and the disappearance of a Catholic priest. 34. Recommendation 9.213 called upon the Government to investigate the serious allegations against illegal armed groups (some of which had operated as paramilitaries), and to prosecute and punish perpetrators irrespective of their political links. In the national plan of action, the Government reported that, as at January 2014, 76 suspects were being detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division, and that an investigation concerning some of them was ongoing.24 35. While the paramilitary groups have largely been disbanded, no action has been taken to date in relation to two senior paramilitary leaders now serving in ministerial positions, Douglas Devananda and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (alias Karuna), or the former 19 20 21 22 23 24 See the press release of the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka, 15 July 2013, at www.presidentsoffice.gov.lk/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=120:cabinet-approvesaction-on-53-more-llrc-recommendations. Other examples include recommendations 9.57 and 9.81. There are similar issues with recommendations 9.73, 9.285 and 9.213. The Government announced the reactivation of civil defence committees in August 2011; see www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20110824_01. See Centre for Policy Alternatives, “A List of Commissions of Inquiry and Committees” (see footnote 15). See National Plan of Action (see footnote 10), p. 30. 9