A/HRC/44/50/Add.1 22. In spite of these positive gains, the delay in operationalization of the two Offices, along with the continued occupation of large areas of land by the military, places caveats on the progress achieved. Meanwhile, in spite of two follow-up resolutions to Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 – specifically, Council resolutions 34/1 in 2017 and 40/1 in 2019 – governmental support for the commitments contained in the resolutions is reportedly wavering. In particular, the establishment of an accountability mechanism has been stymied, inter alia, by disagreements regarding the involvement of international judges on any such tribunal, a requirement that is considered essential to assert the legitimacy of such a mechanism in the eyes of the public.2 Indeed, at this point, no progress has been made domestically in addressing impunity for past human rights violations committed during the conflict. 23. During his discussions with relevant interlocutors, the Special Rapporteur heard numerous and repeated concerns about the possibility of rollbacks on the above-mentioned democratic gains. The Acts establishing both the Office on Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations can be repealed with a simple majority vote, and their Commissioners can be removed in the same way. Moreover, the back and forth between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments regarding the role of the President and the Constitutional Council demonstrates the fragility of the democratic gains made over the last five years. A new amendment abolishing the Constitutional Council and the limits on executive power could undo the progress made thus far, compromising the independence of institutions or abolishing them completely. 24. The Special Rapporteur considers, as mentioned in his end of mission statement, 3 that a concerted effort must be put into the continued safeguarding and promotion of these institutions, ensuring that they are sufficiently robust to maintain independence and functionality throughout all democratic transitions. From his discussions with the Government and all sectors of society, the leitmotif of a desire for public freedoms, rule of law, peace and democracy was clearly visible throughout. C. Normative and institutional framework 25. Sri Lanka is a party to all international human rights treaties, with the exception of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. It has also accepted the individual complaints procedures under the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. However, in a Supreme Court judgment known as the Singarasa case, the Court declared the accession to the first Optional Protocol to the Covenant to be unconstitutional, owing in part to the extension of judicial powers to the Human Rights Committee, leading the Government to adopt the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, No. 56 of 2007. 26. The year 2015 saw a landmark development with regard to transitional justice, with the adoption of Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, which was co-sponsored by Sri Lanka and which outlined a pathway towards the full implementation of transitional justice mechanisms in the country. Those efforts were supported by the United Nations through the operationalization of the Sri Lanka Peacebuilding Priority Plan, with support from the Peacebuilding Fund. As noted above, progress on achieving these proposed reforms has been slow. There are, however, three notable developments in this regard: the return by the military of large areas of previously occupied civilian lands (47,604 acres as at 12 March 2019), the establishment of the Office on Missing Persons and the establishment of the Office for Reparations. 2 3 See https://lk.one.un.org/news/full-statement-by-pablo-de-greiff-un-special-rapporteur-on-thepromotion-of-truth-justice-reparation-and-guarantees-of-non-recurrence-at-the-conclusion-of-hisofficial-visit/. See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24818&LangID=E. 5