On September 19, the HOC delegation met the Secretary...

On September 19, the HOC delegation met the Secretary to the Justice Ministry Ms Dhara Wijayatilake, who pointed out that Sri Lanka, despite still having the death penalty on its statute books could not align itself with retentionist countries in international fora as such a stand would be "incompatible with our current de facto situation." Sri Lanka in fact did not co-sponsor the "domestic jurisdiction" amendment presented by Singapore at the 1999 UNGA - when the EU presented a moratorium resolution and withdrew it before the vote following this proposed amendment - nor did it join the statement of disassociation from the death penalty resolution approved at the 2003 UNCHR presented by Saudi Arabia. Ms Wijayatilake also said that the Sri Lanka's government has set-up instituted a crime prevention committee that has been charged with making a number of recommendations to curb rising crime. The committee comprises the secretaries to the interior and justice ministries and representatives of the police force, professional organisations and the joint business council. "The crime prevention committee is not making any recommendations concerning the death penalty," she told the HOC delegation in Colombo. "Our position is to respect the de facto moratorium."The Justice Ministry has taken no official position regarding the implementation of the death penalty. "The public demand for the death penalty may decrease once an effective policy to curb rising crime is in place. This is currently lacking and very necessary." Asked whether it would be useful for the country to have an internationally approved moratorium backing the local de facto moratorium, Ms Wijayatilake said: 'Yes it definitely would be. Even in the adaptation of national legislation, we always take into account international norms." Sri Lanka's Interior Minister John Amaratunga assured the HOC delegation that the Sri Lankan government was not contemplating a swift return to the death penalty despite calls for its re-introduction to combat a rising crime rate. Mr Amaratunga had visited the Colombo prison to inspect the gallows in February, triggering a fresh debate on the use of the death penalty as a means of curbing crime. However Minister Amaratunga assured the delegation that the government was not going to take a hurried or unilateral decision for the resumption of executions. "The parliament has partly debated the re-introduction of the death penalty and will debate again on Thursday [September 25 -Ed.]. But there will be no vote," Mr Amaratunga said. "The government has not committed itself to either implementation or abolition, at the moment the death penalty remains suspended. We like to listen to the views of the international community before we take a decision."
The meeting with the Interior Minister concluded the HOC delegation's official commitments in Sri Lanka.