A/HRC/43/48/Add.2 comprises inclusiveness, justice and respect for human rights to all of the people of Sri Lanka. 13. Following the adoption of Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, Sri Lanka also extended a standing invitation6 to special procedures on 17 December 2015. Since then, 10 mandate holders have conducted country visits7 to Sri Lanka to assess the human rights situation in the country. D. Developments since 2015 14. In May 2015, the Government introduced the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The amendment established the Constitutional Council, which would exercise certain executive powers previously held by the Executive Presidency, and which would be permitted to set up independent commissions. Furthermore, the Government established the Office on Missing Persons in 2016 and the Office for Reparations in 2018, in line with Human Rights Council resolution 30/1. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka was granted A status in 2018 by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions for its compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). 15. The Special Rapporteur received reports that various initiatives to promote reconciliation and peaceful coexistence were under way in the country. He noted the establishment of the Select Committee of Parliament on 4 September 2018 to study and report on “communal and religious harmony” in Sri Lanka (CCPR/C/LKA/6, para. 123). By August 2019, the Committee had identified existing challenges to religious harmony, provided a list of recommendations to overcome some of those challenges 8 and drawn up an implementation plan for the proposed recommendations. Moreover, at the Special All-Faith and All-Party Conference in April 2019, the Committee launched the Diyawanna Declaration, which, among other recommendations, stated that there was “the need for all party leaders including the President, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to work in cooperation with each other regardless of narrow political, religious or party differences in order to ensure all citizens are able to exist without fear or suspicion and to ensure the security of the country and its people”.9 16. The Special Rapporteur was also encouraged by the programmes and activities undertaken by the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation. 10 In 2017, the Office published the Cabinet-approved National Policy on Reconciliation and Coexistence in Sri Lanka, which provides stakeholders working on reconciliation and coexistence with a guiding framework to achieve coherence in peace and national unity initiatives. It has also been reported that the Office conducts programmes, targeting and training students, to promote religious coexistence and to identify geographic locations with particular vulnerabilities to interreligious violence, as well as interactive training in conflict transformation in these areas (see A/HRC/WG.6/28/LKA/1). In addition, district reconciliation committees 11 were established to tackle inter-ethnic and interreligious tensions through conflict resolution, mediation and amicable settlement. Furthermore, the Office recently launched a project known as “Heal the past, build the future”, which is aimed at bringing together religious leaders, young people, government representatives and civil society actors to raise awareness about how to transform conflict. 6 7 8 9 10 11 4 In the context of the present report, the term “standing invitation” refers to an open invitation extended by a Government to all thematic special procedures. See https://spinternet.ohchr.org/ViewCountryVisits.aspx?visitType=all&country=LKA&Lang=en. See Select Committee of Parliament, “Interim report”. Available at www.parliament.lk/uploads/comreports/1554456616036598.pdf#page=51. See www.parliament.lk/en/committee-news/view/1701. See http://nirmin.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid= 172&lang=en. Seehttp://nirmin.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118:districtreconciliation-committees-drcs&catid=9:projects&lang=en&Itemid=208.