UN renews human rights mandate on Sri Lanka

• International role remains crucial for pursuing accountability, addressing ongoing violations

The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a resolution on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka on 9 October. 

This follows the election of a new President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, on 21 September.

The resolution extends the mandate of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for another year, allowing it to report on ongoing violations and collect evidence of past and current rights violations and crimes under international law committed in Sri Lanka for use in future prosecutions, including those committed in the 1983-2009 civil war. The resolution was presented by a core group consisting of Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Human Rights Watch Deputy Geneva Director Lucy McKernan said: “The Human Rights Council’s resolution on Sri Lanka is important for efforts to uphold fundamental rights in the country and to seek justice for past atrocities. International action is needed in Sri Lanka so long as victims and their families are denied justice. The new Government of President Dissanayake should reveal what happened to thousands of victims of enforced disappearance, end security agencies’ harassment of victims and human rights defenders seeking justice, and open credible investigations into alleged crimes that were blocked by previous Governments.”