Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/mac/TEXT/HUMANrts/SRI_LANK.TXU

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TITLE:  SRI LANKA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STAT
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995



Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Citizens have the constitutional right to change their
government through periodic multiparty elections based on
universal adult suffrage.  Citizens exercised this right during
parliamentary elections in August, when the PA ended the
17-year rule of the UNP, and during the presidential election
in November, when PA presidential candidate Chandrika
Kumaratunga won 62 percent of the vote (also see the
Introduction).  International election monitors judged the
elections to be free and fair.

However, the LTTE refused to allow elections in areas of the
Jaffna district under its control.  The UNP Government
therefore restricted polling in this area to a few off shore
islands.  It denied the opportunity to vote to displaced
persons in refugee camps outside Jaffna district.

Nine of the 10 Jaffna seats were won by candidates from pro-UNP
government Tamil groups, whose armed militias intimidated
voters.  Although the election was marred by 25 murders (see
Section 1.a.), the harassment of voters appeared equally
divided among the parties and did not appear to be an official
government or party policy.  The harassment did not have any
discernible affect on the election's outcome.

The Commissioner of Elections recognizes 26 parties; 9 hold
seats in the 225-member Parliament.  The two most influential
parties generally draw their support from the majority
Sinhalese community.  Historically, these two parties have
alternated in power.  There are some 29 Tamil and 20 Muslim
members of Parliament.

Although there are no legal impediments to the participation of
women in politics or government, the social mores in some
communities limit women's activities outside the home.  In
August voters elected a woman Prime Minister for the second
time in Sri Lanka's history.  In November, for the first time,
a woman was elected president.  Eleven women hold seats in the
Parliament; one is a minister without portfolio; one is the
Minister of Transport, Environment and Women's Affairs; and
four are deputy ministers.

The indigenous people of Sri Lanka, known as Veddas, number
less than 1,000.  There are no restrictions on their
participation in politics.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

There are several local human rights groups, including the
Movement for Interracial Justice and Equality (MIRJE), the
University Teachers for Human Rights, the Civil Rights Movement
(CRM), and the Law and Society Trust (LST), which monitor civil
and political liberties.  The Government eliminated the
Emergency Regulations which had regulated the activities of
local and foreign NGO's.  The former Government did not respond
to the NGOs' human rights inquiries and reports.  However, the
new Government appears more receptive to such groups.  For the
consecutive second year, human rights monitors did not receive
death threats.

The Government made significant progress in implementing a
14-point "Program of Work" to which it voluntarily committed
itself during a meeting in February with the UNHRC (see the
Introduction).  The program, designed to raise human rights
practices to an internationally acceptable standard, included,
inter alia, the following:  revision of the Emergency
Regulations; pursuit of accountability; enactment of
legislation to prohibit torture; implementation of the
recommendations made by the United Nations Working Group on
Disappearances; and continuation of efforts for a negotiated
settlement to the LTTE insurgency.

The Government invited international observers to monitor both
the August parliamentary election and November presidential
election.  There were no reports of interference with these
groups.

The Government continued to provide ICRC with virtually
unrestricted access to detention facilities.  At the
Government's request, the ICRC supervised the delivery of food
and medical supplies into the war zone and provided human
rights training materials to the security forces.

Several international groups provide humanitarian relief to
those affected by the conflict in the northeast.  The
Government does not hinder their activities, aside from
security concerns.  Some of these groups conduct activities in
LTTE-controlled areas.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

     Women

Women have equal rights under national civil and criminal law.
However, issues related to family law, including divorce, child
custody, and inheritance, are adjudicated by the customary law
of each ethnic or religious group.  These legal practices often
result in discrimination against women.

The Constitution guarantees equal employment opportunities in
the public sector, but women have no legal protection against
discrimination in the private sector where they are sometimes
paid less than men for equal work.  In 1993 the Government
signed the International Charter on Women's Rights, but has not
yet passed enabling legislation.  Several NGO's promote women's
rights.

According to at least one NGO, spousal violence is a serious
problem.  There are no laws on spousal violence but the
Government has established a National Committee on Women which
will recommend appropriate legislation.  To date the Committee
has identified as grave problems sexual assault, rape, and
other forms of violence--particularly directed against female
domestic servants.  Most of its work concerns job
discrimination because most women are unwilling to report
physical and sexual abuse.  Women's groups also report that the
sympathies of police and judicial officials often lie with the
accused male rather than the aggrieved female.  However, the
Government has prosecuted numerous persons accused of sexual
abuse and rape.

     Children

The Government is committed to protecting the welfare and
rights of children, but is constrained by lack of resources.
There is a significant problem of child prostitution in certain
coastal resort areas.  A government survey published in January
concluded that there are approximately 2,000 active child
prostitutes, but private groups claim the number is much
higher.  Most of these prostitutes are boys who sell themselves
to foreign tourists.

In May the Government initiated a campaign against child abuse
and exploitation.  The Department of Education and several
NGO's developed a program to educate the public about the
dangers of child prostitution, including AIDS.  A
government-appointed committee submitted a report recommending
legislation on child labor and prostitution, but at year's end
no legislation had been introduced in Parliament.  NGO's
attribute the problem of exploitation of children to the lack
of law enforcement rather than inadequate legislation.

There have been reports that rural children working as domestic
servants in urban households have been abused by their
employers.  Some of these children have reportedly been
starved, beaten, sexually abused, and forced into
prostitution.  The Government does not effectively enforce the
laws designed to protect these children (see Section 6.c.)

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

There are approximately 1 million Tamils of comparatively
recent Indian origin living in Sri Lanka.  About 85,000 of
these people do not qualify for either Indian or Sri Lankan
citizenship and face discrimination, especially in the
allocation of government funds for education.  However, the
Government has stated that none will be forced to depart the
country.

Tamils maintain that they have long been the victims of
systematic discrimination in university education, government
employment, and in other matters controlled by the Government.
However, in recent years there has been little evidence of
overt discrimination in university enrollment or government
employment.

     Religious Minorities

Discrimination based on religious differences is less common
than discrimination based on ethnic group or caste.  In
general, the members of the various faiths tend to be tolerant
of each other's religious beliefs.  However, Evangelical
Christians have been harassed for their attempts to convert
Buddhists to Christianity (see Section 2.c.).

In the northern part of the island, LTTE insurgents expelled
from their homes some 46,000 Muslim inhabitants in
1990--virtually the entire Muslim population.  The LTTE has
expropriated Muslim homes, lands, and businesses, and
threatened Muslim families with death if they attempt to return.

     People with Disabilities

The law does not mandate accessibility to buildings or
government services for people with disabilities.  The World
Health Organization estimates that 7 percent of the population
is disabled.  Most disabled people who are unable to work are
cared for by their families.  The Department of Social Services
runs eight vocational training schools for the physically and
mentally disabled and sponsors a program of job training and
job placement for graduates.  The Government gives some
financial support to nongovernmental organizations assisting
the disabled, subsidizes prosthetic devices and other medical
aids for the disabled, makes some purchases from disabled
suppliers, and has registered 74 schools and training
institutions for the disabled run by NGO's.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Government respects the constitutional right of workers to
establish labor unions.  Any seven workers may establish a
union, adopt a charter, elect leaders, and publicize their
views.  About 50 to 60 percent of the nonagricultural work
force, which is about 25 to 30 percent of the total work force,
is unionized.  Most workers in large private firms are
represented by unions, but those in small-scale agriculture and
in small businesses do not belong to unions.

Most large unions are affiliated with political parties and
together play a prominent role in the political process.  More
than 30 labor unions have political affiliations, but there are
also a small number of unaffiliated unions.

Through September, the Department of Labor registered 210 new
unions and cancelled the registration of 61 others.  The
Department of Labor is authorized by law to cancel the
registration of any union which does not submit an annual
report.  That requirement is the only legal grounds for
cancellation of registration.

All workers, other than civil servants and workers in
"essential" services, have the right to strike.  By law,
workers may also lodge complaints with the Commissioner of
Labor, a labor tribunal or the Supreme Court to protect their
rights.  Under the Emergency Regulations, the Goverment
controlled strikes by declaring some industries to be
"essential."  After the Government terminated the Emergency
Regulations, it removed such industries from that category.
However, the President retains the power to designate any
industry as an essential service.  The International Labor
Organization (ILO) has pointed out to the Government that
essential services should be limited to services where an
interruption would endanger the life, personal safety, or
health of the population.

Civil servants may collectively submit labor grievances to the
Public Service Commission but have no legal grounds to strike.
However, workers in the Post Office, Telecommunications Bureau,
Electricity Board and Port Authority staged brief stikes and
other work actions in 1993 and 1994.  There were 246 strikes in
1994, 75 in the agricultural sector and 171 in the industrial
and other sectors.

The law prohibits retribution against strikers in nonessential
sectors.  Employers may dismiss workers only for indiscipline.

Unions are free to affiliate with international bodies and many
of them have done so.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

The law provides for the right to collective bargaining and it
is widely practiced.  In enterprises that do not have unions,
work councils--composed of employees, employers, and often a
public sector representative--are the forums for collective
bargaining, though the councils are not mandatory outside the
Export Processing Zones (EPZ'S) and do not have the power to
negotiate binding contracts.

The law does not require management to recognize unions, and in
some cases, employers have declined to recognize the unions in
their factories.  However, the law prohibits antiunion
discrimination.  Employers found guilty of such discrimination
are required to reinstate workers fired for union activities,
but have the right to transfer them to different locations.

Workers in the EPZ's have the same right to join unions as
other workers.  However, employers in the EPZ's offer higher
wages and better working conditions, thus discouraging union
activity.  In the place of unions, workers in the EPZ's are
represented by organizations known as Joint Consultative
Councils (JCC's), which are chaired by the Government's Board
of Investments (BOI) and consist of equal delegations from
labor and management.  During the second half of the year,
workers in the EPZ's staged several strikes over wages,
benefits, and worker rights.  In some cases, they took hostages
and violently confronted the police.  The new Government
mediated an end to the strikes.  Management granted modest pay
raises and the Government prosecuted the strikers who engaged
in violence.

In most instances, Wage Boards establish minimum wages and
conditions of employment, except in the EPZ's where wages and
work conditions are set by the BOI.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited by law.  According to
some reports, rural children are sometimes employed in debt
bondage as domestic servants in urban households.  The
Government does not have sufficient resources to protect these
children from such exploitation.

The LTTE conscripts high-school age children for work as cooks,
messengers, and clerks, and in some cases, pressed children
into builiding fortifications.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

In 1993 the Government raised the minimum age for employment to
15 years from 14 years.  However, the law permits the
employment of children below the age of 15 by their parents or
guardians in limited agricultural work.  It also permits
employment in any school or institution for training purposes.

Persons under 16 may not be employed in any public performance
in which life or limb is endangered.  Until recently, children
under 14 years could be employed in the plantation industry,
but in 1991 the Government prohibited such employment after it
ratified ILO Convention 10.

Children are not employed in the EPZ's, the garment industry,
or any other export industry.  About 85 percent of the children
below the age of 16 attend school.  The law provides that the
employment of such persons is permitted for not more than 1
hour on any day before school.

Despite legislation, some child labor still exists.  Some
children work in the informal sectors, including the
manufacture of coconut fiber products, fishing, wrapping
tobacco, street trading, domestic service, and farming.
Government inspections have been unable to eliminate these
forms of child labor.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

There is no national minimum wage, but some 38 wage boards set
minimum wages and working conditions according to sector and
industry.  Current minimum wage rates average $32 (1,550
rupees) a month in industry and commerce; $30 (1,450 rupees) a
month in the service industry; and $1.50 (72 rupees) a day in
agriculture.  The minimum wage in the garment industry is $41
(2,000 rupees) a month.  The minimum wages are insufficient to
support a worker and the standard family of five, but most
families have more than one breadwinner.

The Department of Labor effectively enforces the minimum wage
law.  Most permanent full-time workers are covered by laws that
prohibit them from working regularly more than 45 hours per
week (a 5 1/2 day work week).  Such workers also receive 14
days of annual leave, 14 to 21 days of medical leave, and some
20 holidays each year.  Maternity leave is available for
permanent and casual female workers.  Employers must contribute
12 to 15 percent of a worker's wage to an employee's provident
fund and 3 percent to an employees trust fund.  Employers who
fail to comply may be fined.

Several laws protect the safety and health of industrial
workers.  The government provides nationwide programs on health
and safety issues to increase worker awareness.  However, the
Department of Labor's small staff of inspectors is inadequate
to enforce compliance with the laws.  Workers have the
statutory right to remove themselves from situations that
endanger their health, but many workers are unaware of, or
indifferent to, health risks and fear they would lose their
jobs if they removed themselves.