The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has urged the UN to extend what it called Sri Lanka Accountability Project (SLAP) and transmittal of report to all relevant UN bodies for further action.

Welcoming the recent report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, on the “Situation of Human Rights in Sri Lanka” and the subsequent dialogue at the 57th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, GTF spokesperson Suren Surendiran yesterday (08) issued the following statement: Volker Turk’s report highlights ongoing human rights abuses and calls for national and international actions to advance accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

High Commissioner Turk’s report highlights persistent human rights violations in the Tamil-majority North and East, including harassment of civil society activists, journalists and relatives of the forcibly disappeared, and arbitrary police actions, such as land seizures and obstruction of memorialization efforts for victims.

The report’s findings regarding the continued use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), despite the assurances from the government of enforcing a moratorium, is deeply worrying. Reportedly, at least 46 arrests were made under PTA in the past 18 months, and an alarming 2,845 cases of torture, 21 cases of extrajudicial killings and 26 cases of deaths in custody occurred around the same period.

The report is damning on the performance and inadequacies of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP). Despite the fact that there are tens of thousands of missing people, the OMP has confirmed only one death and four disappearances, and has been criticized for not using all its investigative powers, but retraumatizing victims by calling for more information with the focus on closing their files.

Mass graves is another area that got the High Commissioner’s attention. Despite the fact that several mass graves have been accidently discovered and partially exhumed over past decades, the report states that hardly any remains have been identified and returned to the families. On this the High Commissioner recommends allocating sufficient financial, human and technical resources to conduct exhumations in line with international standards and encourages the Government to seek international support.

In this context, GTF commends the High Commissioner’s office for its groundbreaking May 2024 report, “Accountability for Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka” which emphasizes the long-standing demands of the families who have waited decades for truth and justice for their missing loved ones. The High Commissioner remarked that the government owes these families the truth, and investigating these crimes fully is critical not only for the families but for the healing of the Sri Lankan society as a whole.

After decades of waiting for truth and justice there is a sense of despair among the community of victims. The reflection of this can also be seen in the High Commissioner’s report, as it addresses “further options for advancing accountability”, “complementary strategies from the international community to help break the cycle of systematic impunity”, and using all forms of jurisdiction, including under accepted principles of extraterritorial and universal jurisdiction.

The crucial step that makes any of that possible is the successful completion of the Sri Lanka Accountability Project (SLAP), and in alignment with the appeals from organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, GTF urges UNHRC Member States to extend the mandate of SLAP for a meaningful period, and for the UN Secretary General to ensure this vital work is protected from budgetary constraints.

It is important that at the conclusion of this project, the High Commissioner transmit its findings to all the relevant UN bodies and the UN Secretary General for appropriate action, along the lines of UN’s handling of COI and Special Rapporteur reports on North Korea and Myanmar. Such an action will ensure continuity of this decade long process and oversight at the highest international level. GTF believes sustained international attention and meaningful actions are crucial for Sri Lanka to achieve true accountability, justice and reconciliation for all its people.

GTF has congratulated the newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and shares the optimism that his administration will foster good governance, combat corruption and end impunity. Sri Lanka has been plagued by impunity for decades – whether for economic crimes or for serious human rights abuses. We have no doubt impunity will truly end only when it is defeated in all its manifestations.

GTF calls on the new government to work closely with the UN system, the international community, and the people of Sri Lanka from all communities to achieve its lofty goals, and for the international community to support Sri Lanka in its difficult journey. GTF will do its part in contributing towards this transition.”