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Same-sex marriages: Justice Minister contests UNHRC chief’s claims
View(s):By Tharushi Weerasinghe
Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has refuted UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk’s statement that a bill to decriminalise same-sex marriages is before Parliament.
The Justice Minister was reacting to Mr. Türk’s comment at a media briefing on Thursday at the end of his four-day visit to Sri Lanka.
“I welcome the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships bill, which I understand is before Parliament,” said Mr. Türk.
However, the Justice Minister clarified that there was “no bill in any official stage with any confirmed timelines within the ministry’s agenda at this time”.
Same-sex relationships are currently punishable under provisions within the Penal Code; decriminalisation would require a bill to amend the said provisions.
Despite the minister’s denial of immediate plans on the matter, the ruling party has, during its years in the opposition, expressed support for attempts to decriminalise same-sex relationships and consistently maintained its staunch support for the LGBTQ community.
Speaking to the media in June last year, Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya, who was an opposition parliamentarian at the time, insisted that the NPP would support a private member’s bill that was introduced by Premnath Dolowaththa and promised to back the bill during its third reading. However, following the dissolution of Parliament with the subsequent elections, the bill was nullified.
During his election campaign in 2019, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was also one of the first presidential candidates in history to promise to abolish inequalities based on gender and sexual orientation.
Commenting on accountability for the war crimes Sri Lanka is accused of, Mr. Türk also observed that Sri Lanka has struggled to move forward with domestic accountability mechanisms that “are credible and have the trust and confidence of the victims”, resulting in Sri Lankans looking outside for justice through assistance at the international level.
Mr. Türk added that the creation of an independent prosecutor and domestic accountability system were key elements of discussions with the government. He added that his own office had been mandated to gather and preserve information and analyse violations and abuses and had established a dedicated project for this purpose.
“Support has been offered to ensure the local mechanisms are informed by international practices and are victim-centred.”
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