Sri Lanka’s Army announced that it had agreed a ‘national’ vetting process with the UN for personnel that it sends out on UN peacekeeping assignments.
In a statement published on the army website, it said,
“Following discussions with the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations, and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has agreed on a process to be followed for screening of all personnel being deployed on UN assignments. his national process is in line with the UN Secretary -General's Decision No.2012/18 Human Rights ‘screening of United Nations Personnel' of 11 December 2012 which requires Member States to screen their personnel and certify that the individuals who are nominated or deployed have not been involved in violations.”
It added,
“We firmly believe that this national process that has been set in place will help raise the standards of conduct and discipline of Sri Lanka's Army even further in future, and it is our objective to ensure that personnel belonging to the Sri Lanka Army at home and abroad always maintain the highest standards of discipline and conduct, earning the trust and confidence of those that they serve.”
At least 100 members of Sri Lanka’s peacekeeping mission were implicated in a child sex abuse ring in Haiti whilst being deployed in Haiti.
UN resolution 30/1 on accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka also asked for Sri Lanka’s military forces to be vetted of personnel responsible for rights violations in its armed ethnic conflict before deploying personnel on UN missions.
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