The government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, which took office on September 23, 2024, has promised to address longstanding human rights issues that have plunged Sri Lanka into repeated crises, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its World Report 2025. 

Issuing a statement, HRW said President Dissanayake has pledged to introduce more equitable economic policies and to repeal the notoriously abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act, but he has not backed accountability for widespread rights violations during Sri Lanka’s 1983-2009 civil war between the government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, that governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“Sri Lanka’s multiple crises are connected by entrenched impunity for rights violations, discrimination against minority communities, and laws and institutions that seek to silence critics,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “President Dissanayake has an opportunity to make real progress on rights if he carries out his campaign pledges, but he also needs to address the legacy of past conflicts and continuing abuses against Tamils, Muslims, and others on which he has been troublingly silent.”

• While an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout helped stem the immediate crisis after the Sri Lankan government defaulted on its foreign debt in 2022, the United Nations estimated that a quarter of households were suffering food insecurity in 2024. 
• Policies pursued by the outgoing administration of President Ramil Wickremesinghe under the IMF program shifted the burden of recovery largely onto people with low incomes. The Dissanayake government has pledged to combat corruption and create more equitable economic policies.
• Police and other security agencies harassed and threatened activists and human rights defenders with impunity during 2024, particularly in predominantly Tamil areas in the north and east, including undue restrictions and interference in the financing of civil society organizations.
• In May, the UN human rights office issued a report calling for the international community to undertake prosecutions and other accountability measures to address thousands of unresolved cases of enforced disappearance that occurred over decades during the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) uprisings, and the LTTE armed conflict. The UN Human Rights Council has extended a mandate to monitor human rights violations and collect evidence of crimes during the civil war. 

HRW said President Dissanayake should begin to address Sri Lanka’s many human rights problems by fulfilling and building upon the pledges he made during his party’s election campaigns. (Newswire)

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A recent report by the external mechanism established in Geneva to collect evidence against soldiers and political leaders accused of war crimes in Sri Lanka reveals there is a significant amount of evidence against the military leaders of this country, Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security MP Sarath Weerasekera said. 

According to MP Sarath Weerasekera, an external mechanism was established in Geneva, Switzerland for the past 2 years according to resolution 46/1 to collect evidence related to war crimes against soldiers and political leaders who were accused of committing war crimes. 

He further stated that, in a report recently published by the said mechanism, it has been stated that they have a significant amount of evidence against the military leaders of this country.

Stating that this external mechanism can describe the war in this country as a war against the Tamils ​​and not against the LTTE, MP Weerasekera emphasized that this activity is a threat to the self-esteem of the Sri Lankan war heroes as well as the national security.

He said therefore, the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security was of the view that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately take measures to stop the accusations of war crimes by other countries of the world against the Sri Lankan military personnel and the prosecution of cases in the International Military Tribunal. 

MP Weerasekera added that the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security has further asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the strategies they have to reject the external mechanism brought by the Geneva Human Rights Organizations and their readiness to take action against them if they are prosecuted in the International Military Tribunal.

MP Weerasekera expressed these views when the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security met in Parliament recently (June 05).

At the committee meeting, it was disclosed that several countries are currently working together to file cases in the relevant countries and international courts under the universal jurisdiction against the military leaders of Sri Lanka who have been found to have committed war crimes.

Although this external mechanism has been rejected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, they are continuously collecting evidence against the military leaders of Sri Lanka and the dangerous situation here is that the military officers of Sri Lanka can be arrested in any country of the world and prosecuted in the International Court of Justice. 

It was also informed that this external mechanism has the ability to describe the war in this country as a war against the Tamils ​​and not against the LTTE. It was emphasized that this activity is a threat to the self-esteem of the Sri Lankan war heroes as well as the national security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately take measures to stop the accusations of war crimes by other countries of the world against the Sri Lankan military personnel and the prosecution of cases in the International Military Tribunal. 

Here, the Committee asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the strategies they have to reject the external mechanism brought by the Geneva Human Rights Organizations and their readiness to take action against them if they are prosecuted in the International Military Tribunal.

Responding, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Ministry has taken steps to inform the countries that are acting impartially in this regard by expressing a strong protest against the reports of the Geneva Human Rights Commission.

Attorney at Law Darshana Weerasekera, who was called before the committee to express further comments in this regard, stated that Sri Lanka should have a strong domestic mechanism that can break the external mechanism with evidence. He also said that for this purpose, a strong local data file should be prepared by incorporating the facts of the LLRC report and the Paranagama report.

MP Sarath Weerasekera stated that the proposed Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation will further support the external forces that are against this country. (Newswire)

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