News
Top UN official flags ‘accountability deficit’ in Lanka
By MEERA SRINIVASAN
Accountability remains the “fundamental gap” in Sri Lanka’s attempts to deal with the past, a senior U.N. official has said while warning that “as long as impunity prevails, Sri Lanka will achieve neither genuine reconciliation nor sustainable peace.”
Referring to the Sri Lankan government’s plans to set up a Truth Commission, to probe allegations of war crimes and grave human rights violations during the country’s civil war, U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif noted that Sri Lanka has “witnessed too many ad hoc commissions” in the past that failed to ensure accountability.
“What is needed is a coherent plan that connects the different elements of truth, redress, memorialisation, accountability and creates the right enabling environment for a successful and sustainable transitional justice process,” she said, in an oral update to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.
While it is fundamentally the Sri Lankan authorities’ responsibility to directly acknowledge past violations and undertake credible investigations and prosecutions the international community can – and should – play complementary roles in the process until the “accountability deficit” remains, Ms. Al-Nashif said, amid known resistance within Sri Lanka’s Sinhala-majority to any international participation.
Further, pointing to recent arrests of a stand-up comedian and a Tamil legislator, the U.N. official said the past months witnessed “the old reflex of using draconian laws to curtail opposition and control civic space, with a heavy-handed approach to protests far too often”.
While “encouraging” President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s dialogue with Tamil political parties, and “welcoming” his promise to stop land acquisition for archaeological, forestry or security purposes, the U.N. official underscored the need for new laws, policies and practices that will “make good on these promises and bring about tangible changes”.
Commenting on the island’s persisting economic crisis, the Deputy Chief of Human Rights observed that it continues to severely impact the “rights and well-being of many Sri Lankans”. Terming the International Monetary Fund’s $ 2.9 billion-support an “important first step”, she called for “robust safety nets and social protection measures”, in order to ensure that “the burden of reforms does not further compound inequalities.”
Referring to last year’s historic people’s uprising [Janatha Aragalaya] in the island nation, that ousted former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Ms. Al-Nashif noted that the “full potential for the historic transformation that would address long-standing challenges has yet to be realised.”
More than 108,000 complaints of child abuse had been received by the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) between 2015 and 2025, Women and Child Affairs Minister Saroja Savithri Paulraj told Parliament yesterday.
Responding to a question raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa under Standing Order 27/2, the Minister said 4,421 child abuse cases were pending before High Courts as of April 30 this year, with indictments already filed against the accused.
She said the NCPA was working with 47 Police Child and Women Protection Bureaus under the Police Children and Women Abuse Prevention Division to expedite the hearing and conclusion of these cases.
The Minister said measures were also being taken to protect child victims during legal proceedings by introducing a system to record their evidence through video in a safe and child-friendly environment, thereby reducing the need for them to appear in court.
She said discussions were underway with the Ministries of Health and Mass Media and other relevant institutions to establish nine provincial video evidence recording units.
by Saman Indrajith ✍️
The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed a writ petition seeking to postpone the 2026 G.C.E. A/L Examination by two months.
The petition, filed by a group of students due to sit the examination for the first and second time, sought an order delaying the examination, which is scheduled to commence next month.
The Court announced its decision after considering submissions made in support of the application and declined to grant leave to proceed with the petition.
As a result, the 2026 G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination will be held as scheduled in August.
Leader of the House and Minister Bimal Rathnayake yesterday criticised the conduct of MP Archchuna Ramanathan in Parliament, describing the behaviour of certain lawmakers as “uncivilised, disgraceful and indecent”, while a heated exchange followed between government and opposition members.
Rathnayake made the remarks when Ramanathan attempted to raise a point of order during parliamentary proceedings.
“This parliament has one or two members who behave in a very uncivilised, disgraceful manner. We tolerate them because one of them is mentally ill,” Rathnayake said.
He alleged that Ramanathan had insulted even members of the Tamil community.
“The things he says may not be heard through the microphone, but the four walls of this Parliament are witnesses,” Rathnayake said, adding that Ramanathan’s conduct was not limited to Parliament.
He claimed that the Jaffna District Coordinating Committee meeting could not be held due to Ramanathan’s behaviour and said MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam had written to the Speaker stating that he could not sit near him.
The Speaker intervened during the exchange, warning Ramanathan not to behave in a manner that would turn Parliament into “a joke”. He also said the MP had previously addressed him in an insulting manner.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa criticised the manner in which Rathnayake and the Speaker had addressed the matter, saying MPs should not be spoken to improperly and urging members to follow parliamentary Standing Orders.
Ramanathan, responding to the remarks, said: “I may be a psycho, but I am not a homosexual.”
by Saman Indrajith ✍️
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