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Global rights organizations urge UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk to prioritize justice in Sri Lanka during his visit

2025-06-18

In a powerful open letter issued ahead of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trks official visit to Sri Lanka June 2326, five leading international human rights organizations have jointly urged him to prioritize justice, accountability, and support for survivors of past atrocities.

The letter, signed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development FORUMASIA, and the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, comes amid mounting concerns that the Sri Lankan government may use the visit to deflect international pressure and weaken the UNs human rights monitoring mechanisms.

Citing the lack of meaningful progress by the newly elected government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the groups warned that promises made before the election have not translated into political action. They emphasized that violations stemming from the countrys long civil war, including enforced disappearances and wartime atrocities, remain unaddressed, while new abuses continue.

Central to the letter is a call for Trk to reaffirm the importance of the Sri Lanka Accountability Project OSLAP, a UN mechanism gathering evidence of grave human rights violations and war crimes. The organizations emphasized that this mandate must be renewed and strengthened, noting that victims, survivors, and civil society groups who engage with the UN process continue to face harassment and threats from state agents.

The letter outlines a set of concrete recommendations for High Commissioner Trks visit, including visiting key symbolic sites such as Mullivaikal and the Chemmani mass graves, meeting families of disappeared persons from both the north and south of Sri Lanka, urging the government to repeal the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act and to halt ongoing land grabs and religious discrimination targeting Tamil and Muslim communities, and calling for a credible and transparent investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings alongside an end to the continued harassment of Muslim families.

The groups stressed that only robust international scrutiny, led by the UN, can help restore confidence in the process of justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Your visit is a critical opportunity to stand with victims and signal that impunity will not be tolerated, the letter concludes, urging Trk to ensure that international justice efforts are not diluted.

The High Commissioners visit marks the first since the countrys new administration took office earlier this year. Observers say it will test whether the UNs human rights mechanisms can withstand growing domestic resistance to international oversight.