The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday adopted a resolution to promote reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.
The resolution, adopted without a vote, also extends the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ mandate in Sri Lanka for an additional two years.
It urges the government to commit to the devolution of political authority by holding the long-held-back provincial council elections, and that all provincial councils are “able to operate effectively in accordance with the thirteenth amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka”.
The resolution encourages the current government’s action for “corruption and economic mismanagement”. It also urges the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, highlighting continued detentions under the law that disproportionately affect Tamil and Muslim communities, and calls for reforms to the Online Safety Act to protect freedom of expression.
It urges the government to “seek international support proactively to ensure sufficient financial, human and technical resources to conduct exhumations”, on the identification of multiple mass graves. It also welcomes the government’s commitment to reopening some cases of grave rights violations of the past and action to set up an independent public prosecutorial body.
Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva criticised the extension of the OHCHR’s external evidence-gathering mechanism, deeming it unprecedented and counterproductive to genuine domestic reconciliation efforts.
Reacting to the adoption of the resolution, a spokesperson for the main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), said they welcomed the two-year extension of international oversight but expressed disappointment over the lack of meaningful progress despite multiple similar resolutions since 2012.
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