HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA, Annual Report 2018 of powers in a politically partial manner result in violation of fundamental rights, and that in addition to holding the state responsible, individual officers will also be held personally responsible for violations. 2.3. Vetting of Sri Lankan military personnel to be deployed as UN peacekeepers By letter dated 04 April 2018 the Commission wrote to His Excellency, the President outlining the process of vetting and difficulties faced in its smooth implementation as it was a novel activity, HRCSL being the first national human rights institution entrusted with the task by the UN anywhere in the world. In May 2018, the Commission also met with the Hon. Speaker/Chairman, Constitutional Council to discuss matters pertaining to vetting of peacekeeping missions. Pursuant to these steps, a roundtable discussion was held in June 2018 in Colombo on the vetting of military personnel with all stakeholders [United Nations Department of Peace Operations (UNDPO), police, tri-forces, HRCSL and Ministry of Foreign Affairs] in attendance. It was decided at this roundtable to halt the vetting process for six months until Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) to be developed by UNDPO for purposes of vetting were studied and agreed on by all parties.. After finalizing the SoPs and all stakeholders reaching agreement, vetting commenced in December 2018 with the UNDPO forwarding to HRCSL a priority list of Sri Lankan military personnel for vetting. 2.4. Challenges While 2018 saw many successes for the Commission, its activities were hampered by long-standing challenges. The main challenge was the shortage of staff to carry out the activities of the Commission. While the approval of the schemes of recruitment offered hope of recruitment of new staff, the call for applications in 2018 for the five (05) positions of directors did not attract suitable candidates. This impeded the capacity of the Commission to function effectively. 34