Rigorous Scrutiny should be maintained on SriLanka - Human Rights Watch

The United Nations Human Rights Council should maintain its rigorous scrutiny of Sri Lanka’s worsening human rights situation and press for genuine improvements, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today.

At the Council’s upcoming session, which begins on September 13, 2021, UN member countries should express their alarm about the allegations on abuse and the weakening of independent governmental institutions, civilian governance, and the rule of law, the HRW stated further in its statement. “These countries should demonstrate their willingness to press the Sri Lankan government to meet its international human rights obligations.”

Speaking in this regard, Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia director at HRW said, “Since Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office in 2019, the limited progress Sri Lanka had made in addressing past atrocities and ending abuses has been disastrously reversed.

“Continued international attention and pressure can help reduce the risks faced by minority communities, activists, and journalists, who live in heightened fear of the authorities.”

Earlier in 2021, the Human Rights Council adopted an important resolution, 46/1, to advance accountability for alleged past rights violations and war crimes committed in Sri Lanka and the resolution also mandated regular reporting by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the HRW added, noting that the Rajapaksa administration, in 2020, had renounced the previous administration’s commitments to the Human Rights Council to provide justice and end abuses.