Sri Lanka and the United Nations. A human rights case study

Abstract

The thesis analyses Sri Lanka’s engagement with the United Nations human rights machinery and assesses whether there has been any impact on the human rights infrastructure and situation in Sri Lanka because of this engagement. For this purpose, it will elucidate, first, the historical development of colonial and post-colonial Sri Lanka. Second, it considers Sri Lanka’s development of a domestic human rights infrastructure. Third and fourth, it provides an examination and analysis of the country’s engagement with United Nations’ treaty-based and charter-based human rights bodies. Finally, the thesis offers some conclusions concerning the impact of Sri Lanka’s human rights engagement with the United Nations.