Next SL govt. should commit to accountability, justice, reconciliation: UN Human Rights Chief

Colombo, September 10 (Daily Mirror) - With less than two weeks for the Presidential election, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the newly elected administration must commit to the concrete transformational changes needed to ensure accountability, justice and reconciliation.

During the Interactive Dialogue on the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka, the High Commissioner said while 15 years have passed since the end of the devastating civil war – victims and their families are still waiting for truth, for justice and for reparation. 

“Instead, a prevailing sense of impunity impedes meaningful progress and encourages continued violations and more corruption. Meanwhile, for many people, the economic situation is precarious,” the High Commissioner said.

According to the Human Rights chief, the poverty rate doubled between 2021 and 2023, and more and more households are forced to choose between food and healthcare, between education and energy. 

“I am especially concerned by new or proposed laws granting broad powers to security forces and expanding restrictions on citizens and civil society. One such example, the draft NGOs Registration and Supervision Bill, has a range of problematic provisions—including broad discretion given to authorities to deny registration of civil society organizations—that carry major risks threatening civic space. 

“Reports of persistent harassment, surveillance and intimidation of journalists, civil society actors, victims and human rights defenders are unacceptable. 

“Meanwhile, abuses by police and security forces are prevalent, and we continue to receive concerning allegations of arbitrary detention and torture. 

“The absence of accountability for past and present violations is a fundamental problem, illustrated by the lack of meaningful progress in emblematic cases,” the High Commissioner said.