- Response to UNHRC report being formulated
- Continued use of PTA legislation criticised
The Government, which has now been in office for nearly a year and has been actively trying to engage with the international community to address long-standing human rights, reconciliation, and accountability issues, continues to come under criticism for its continued use of draconian laws.
The Government has stood its ground emphasising concerns about sovereignty, crime prevention, and ongoing reforms, which it claims necessitate the use of existing legislation. Amid mounting concerns regarding the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the Government has signalled that it will repeal the oft-criticised legislation.
On Tuesday (2), Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism Vijitha Herath chaired a briefing for members of Colombo’s diplomatic corps at the ministry. At the briefing he outlined the Government’s initiatives since taking office 11 months ago, highlighting efforts to protect and promote the rights and well-being of all Sri Lankans. He reaffirmed the administration’s “firm and genuine commitment” to these objectives.
“We have made concrete progress on strengthening domestic reconciliation mechanisms,” Herath said, referencing key institutions such as the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), the Office for Reparations (OR), and the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR). He also detailed advances in the Government’s anti-corruption drive through the Clean Sri Lanka programme, ongoing drafting of new counter-terrorism legislation, and proposed amendments to the Online Safety Act.
Urging continued diplomatic support, the Minister said: “We seek the acknowledgement and encouragement of the diplomatic community regarding the transformative path the Government has undertaken and we invite your support for national processes advancing reconciliation and human rights, upholding the rule of law, and ensuring inclusive economic growth.”
Progress amid ongoing challenges
A recent report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) – of which the final version will later be presented at the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) 60th session – provides a comprehensive overview of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka from October 2024 to July 2025, following the election of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his National People’s Power (NPP) coalition’s parliamentary majority.
While affirming the new Government’s commitments — including the pledge to repeal the controversial PTA and intensify corruption crackdowns — the report underscores persisting challenges. It highlights that the PTA continues to be used for arbitrary arrests and prolonged detentions, disproportionately affecting Tamil and Muslim communities. It also raises alarm over documented cases of torture, ill-treatment, and custodial deaths, citing at least 13 such instances since 2024, accompanied by inadequate investigations.
The report states that “justice must be served to the victims, and the perpetrators must be held accountable,” quoting President Dissanayake’s promises to investigate emblematic cases such as wartime disappearances and the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. However, it stressed that “16 years after the armed conflict, it will be important for the Government to fully acknowledge widespread and serious violations, provide adequate redress, and ensure truth and justice for victims”.
Economic hardships continue, with poverty rates doubling since 2019 to 24.5%, severely impacting vulnerable groups. The report notes the challenge of balancing poverty alleviation with fiscal consolidation under International Monetary Fund programme parameters.
Further, the UN calls for the creation of an independent prosecutorial body and comprehensive security sector reforms to remove officials “implicated in serious violations”. It also urges the Government to end surveillance and harassment of civil society actors, human rights defenders, journalists, and victims’ families, particularly in the north and east.
On reconciliation, it highlights the Government’s plans to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission after broad consultations, emphasising the need to “foster trust with affected communities through transparent and genuine consultation”.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights concludes with an appeal to the international community: “The council and individual United Nations Member States should continue to support and use the complementarity of the OHCHR’s strengthened capacity to undertake accountability-related work contributing to meaningful accountability and reconciliation efforts both in Sri Lanka and internationally.”
An independent prosecutorial office
The report also spotlights the Government’s policy to reform the prosecutorial system by establishing an independent Public Prosecutor’s Office, separate from the Attorney General’s Department, intended to enhance impartiality and effectiveness in addressing serious human rights violations.
An expert committee has been established to develop initial proposals, seeking input from the public, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and civil society organisations. The UN welcomes this initiative, but stresses on “the need for transparency and proactive inclusion of civil society organisations in the process to ensure the credibility of the office”.
The report recommends that the prosecutorial body “must be fully independent, effective, and robust to assess relevant information and make independent prosecutorial decisions”. It also suggests considering “the creation of a judicial mechanism with an independent special counsel” to handle historic cases of human rights and international humanitarian law violations.
Concerns over accountability mechanisms
Former Governor of the Eastern Province and Sarvajana Balaya Deputy Chairperson Anuradha Yahampath reflected on Sri Lanka’s engagement with UN resolutions on accountability: “In 2015, Resolution 30/1 was brought in and we co-sponsored it with the Sri Lankan Government. Since then, we admitted to allegations against the State and armed forces and accepted the need for parliamentary acts suggested by the resolution.”
She expressed concern about recent UN mechanisms, stating: “In 2019, with the change of government, we came out of the co-sponsorship, and after that, the next year, the UNHRC actually passed a new resolution, which is 46/1. In Resolution 46/1, they are appointing an office in the OHCHR. The UNHRC is giving the authority to that office to start a new project called the Sri Lanka Accountability Project (SLAP).
“So in this Sri Lanka Accountability Project, there is an office to collect evidence. The mandate this office has is to collect, consolidate, analyse, and store — the word they use is ‘store’ — the evidence that they are collecting. More than 100,000 people have given evidence, files have been made against many individuals, and this evidence can be used at will.”
Yahampath warned: “One of the most dangerous requests is for Sri Lanka to sign the Rome Convention, bringing us under International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction. Because we haven’t signed it, our soldiers cannot be taken to the ICC directly. So, the two most dangerous things are: they have already collected evidence in Geneva, at this SLAP office, and then they want the Prosecutor’s Office to be established in Sri Lanka, and the evidence that is already in Geneva can be shared in Sri Lanka.”
She urged caution regarding Government actions: “The biggest mistake was co-sponsoring such resolutions in the past — it meant accepting their allegations seriously. This Government should not co-sponsor the next one. They should campaign diplomatically against it and must not allow the establishment of the Prosecutor’s Office as demanded by the UNHRC.”
She also stressed the need for the Government to lobby for votes among UNHRC member states: “The second point is if this Government can campaign in the Human Rights Council by going from country to country to get them to vote against the resolution. Before 2015, when resolutions like this came up, ambassadors went from country to country and persuaded members to vote against such resolutions.”
A need for joint action
Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Eran Wickramaratne advocated working with the international community and emphasised sovereignty and partnership: “The Government has decided to work with the international community and is engaging with the UK- and Canada-led committee. They are asking for more time to progress transitional justice. The Government wants to strengthen domestic mechanisms like the OMP, Office for Reparations, and ONUR and is open to international expertise.”
Wickramaratne added: “As a sovereign nation, we must maintain our sovereignty, but also convince the international community of our governance standards. Poor governance drives the population to seek external help. We hope for cooperation rather than the traditional ‘friend or foe’ approach.”
He defended the previous co-sponsorship of Resolution 30/1 in 2015, asserting: “The late Mangala Samaraweera understood it was in Sri Lanka’s long-term interest to treat the international community as partners, not foes. The current Government too appears to be doing the same thing philosophically, treating the international community as partners and not enemies and moving forward.”
He added that the Government was duty bound to adhere to its promises made during the election with regard to the PTA and key issues of minorities. “Both the issue of the PTA and the devolution of power were talked about by the NPP during the elections and the communities most affected by these gave their support to this Government. If the Government doesn’t deliver on those promises I think it’s going to have a serious adverse effect.”
Former Member of Parliament, former Chair of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, and Political Analyst Professor Rajiva Wijesinghe contextualised the historic and political complexities: “The country largely rejected foreign probes except for Ranil Wickremesinghe, who sought to appease the West.”
“The 2015 resolution was reluctantly co-sponsored after internal resistance, but no outcomes followed. It’s not a matter of party but of principle; Sri Lanka should consistently reject allegations of systematic war crimes while investigating specific incidents requiring attention.”
He explained that internal probes and not external ones must be carried out: “The acceptance that there were three or four incidents of serious international law violations that required further investigation — this is something that Mahinda Rajapaksa also accepted through the commissions of inquiry he appointed even though he didn’t do anything about it. So whether Sri Lanka will proceed on internal investigations is yet to be seen.
“It seems that the NPP has less of an axe to grind. Part of the problem was that Gotabaya Rajapaksa did not want any inquiries to take place, whereas Mahinda appointed committees and told them to conduct inquiries. One of the biggest problems is that in 2015 Ranil Wickremesinghe suppressed the Paranagama report. Now that we have hopefully got over the Ranil blight we should proceed with what Mahinda should have done 12 years ago, which is to conduct internal probes and take necessary action.”
Regarding the international community, he argued: “Most are not truly interested; some Western countries act under diaspora pressure. Sri Lanka’s standing in the international community will really depend on being able to hold our own economically and to continue to cultivate good relations with the world at large, and not on these investigations.”
Tamil National Alliance MP M.A. Sumanthiran urged cooperation with the UN while criticising Government delays: “The Government should cooperate with the UN process. The High Commissioner has engaged widely; the President has gone to Jaffna and promises independent investigations. However, one year after taking office, they have not repealed the PTA, released any land, or freed political prisoners. They have made little real progress on justice and reconciliation.”
Govt. stance
Deputy Minister of National Integration Mohammed Muneer Mulaffer assured that the Government was preparing responses: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is formulating comprehensive responses to the concerns raised by the UNHRC in its recent report. A delegation is preparing submissions for the Geneva sessions this month highlighting Government progress on human rights.”
He confirmed that the PTA would be done away with: “Regarding the PTA, the current Government has decided to abolish the law and is committed to creating space for probes conducted in a fair and transparent manner.”
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Arun Premachandra had not responded to queries by The Sunday Morning at the time of writing.
As Sri Lanka navigates the delicate balance between responding to international scrutiny and protecting national sovereignty, the Government appears set to engage both domestic and international stakeholders in efforts toward lasting reconciliation, justice, and human rights reforms.