Sri Lanka allows International Bar Association delegation to visit country

The Sri Lankan government has lifted its ban on fact-finding visits by the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI).

The government has said that the institute is welcome to make an “objective and impartial analysis of the reality of contemporary Sri Lanka,” according to the institute.

In February 2013 Sri Lankan authorities revoked the visas of a previously constituted delegation and prevented them from undertaking a rapid response mission to Colombo to probe the impeachment of the former Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake.

The External Affairs Ministry of Sri Lanka said the four members of the delegation provided inaccurate information on their visa applications and therefore the delegation was barred form entering the country.

Last month the institute released a report on Sri Lanka raising the issue whether Sri Lanka is a suitable venue to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo in November 2013.

Since the delegation was not allowed to visit the country, it conducted interviews and consultations remotely in preparing the report “A Crisis of Legitimacy.”

Source: Colombo Page 14/5/2013: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_13A/May14_1368478441CH.php