UNHRC member states should draft and adopt a strong resolution that protects vulnerable people in Sri Lanka, advances justice for international crimes and shows that the council is able to respond to challenges posed by the Sri Lankan Government, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today. In her report released on January 27, 2021, High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she was “alarmed” by Sri Lanka’s deteriorating human rights situation and set out steps that the Human Rights Council should take to confront the growing risk of future violations. John Fisher, HRW Geneva director, said the UN high commissioner’s report highlights Sri Lanka’s egregious record of complete impunity for appalling crimes, and very disturbing developments under the Rajapaksa administration. “The Human Rights Council has given Sri Lanka every opportunity to address these issues over many years, and now greater international involvement is needed to help protect vulnerable groups and hold those responsible for grave international crimes to account,” he said. The HRW said during the final months of the civil war between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in May 2009, both sides committed atrocities that killed tens of thousands of civilians. "UN investigators found that these atrocities may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Grave abuses included summary executions, torture, rape, and the murder and enforced disappearance of journalists and activists. "Many senior figures implicated in those abuses returned to government following the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019. The UN high commissioner found that “Sri Lanka remains in a state of denial about the past, with truth-seeking efforts aborted and the highest State officials refusing to make any acknowledgement of past crimes.” "The high commissioner described “a deepening and accelerating militarization of civilian government functions.” Since 2020, she wrote, “The President has appointed at least 28 serving or former military and intelligence personnel to key administrative posts,” including senior military officials who have been alleged in UN reports to be implicated in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. "Among them are the defense secretary, Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, who commanded the 53rd Division at the end of the civil war, and the chief of defense staff, Gen. Shavendra Silva, who is banned from traveling to the United States due to his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings. "The high commissioner drew attention in her report to the growing dangers vulnerable minority groups face. Rajapaksa set up an advisory council on governance consisting of senior Buddhist monks, established a task force on the sensitive issue of archaeological heritage management that consisted almost entirely of Sinhalese members, and under the pretext of Covid-19, mandated cremations for all deaths, groundlessly preventing Muslims from practicing their own burial rites, it said. Fisher said, “This strong and clear report by the high commissioner leaves no room for doubt about the situation in Sri Lanka, or what is at stake when the Human Rights Council considers a new resolution in a few weeks’ time.”