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Calls for justice rise as Sri Lanka dismisses UNHRC scrutiny and the victim community's grievances

2025-09-14

As the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council unfolds in Geneva this September, Sri Lanka once again finds itself at the center of international criticism over its failure to deliver truth, justice, and accountability for wartime atrocities. While the Sri Lankan government continues to tout its socalled progress on reconciliation and transitional justice, ground realities in the North and East paint a very different pictureone marked by renewed Tamil protests, excavated mass graves, arbitrary arrests, and the growing frustration of families of the disappeared.

In recent weeks, families and survivors in Jaffna, Batticaloa, and Trincomalee have taken to the streets, demanding international investigations and prosecution of grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, torture, and war crimes. They point to the ongoing excavations of suspected mass graves and the longstanding impunity surrounding atrocities committed during the final years of the war. While domestic courts have ordered limited forensic excavationssuch as the one in Chemmanino significant action has been taken to identify victims or prosecute those allegedly responsible, despite credible evidence. Victims groups and legal representatives continue to report delays, intimidation, and a lack of cooperation from state institutions.

Back home, government officials adopted a tone of sarcasm and contempt in response to growing international scrutiny and local protests. One senior Cabinet Minister waved off concerns, saying, If they want to protest forever, let them protestreferring to Tamil families of the disappeared, some of whom have been demonstrating for over 2,000 days. Another government figure went a step further, branding the protests and international attention as a welled drama designed to tarnish Sri Lankas image abroad. These comments, rather than defusing criticism, revealed the states hardened stance and refusal to acknowledge the ongoing trauma endured by victims families, especially in the North and East.

While the government boasts of reconciliation mechanisms like the Office of Missing Persons and economic development initiatives, many Tamil families see little change. Behind the scenes, surveillance continues, activists are summoned by intelligence, and religious or cultural gatherings are closely monitored. Diplomatic delegations are escorted through sanitized versions of reality, while local voices raising concerns are systematically excluded. In places like Mullaitivu and Kokkilai, land disputes persistmilitary and statebacked actors continue to seize or fence off lands under the pretext of development or archaeology. The contrast between the governments international diplomacy and its domestic heavyhandedness could not be starker.

Meanwhile, the government has redoubled efforts to portray a narrative of national unity and reconciliation at the UNHRC, even as Tamil community members on the ground decry intensifying surveillance, land grabs, and the misuse of draconian laws such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Human rights defenders and civil society actors have reported being followed, questioned, and subjected to smear campaigns in the state media. Some NGOs working on accountability issues say their field teams are under active surveillance by intelligence services.

At the UNHRC, the update by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted these contradictions, raising concerns over continued militarization, the lack of meaningful accountability mechanisms, and the government's failure to address systemic discrimination. The proposed resolution, while acknowledging ongoing violations, has come under criticism from victims groups for its lack of concrete enforcement mechanisms. Tamil families of the disappeared, many of whom have been protesting continuously for over 2,000 days, say that UN resolutions alone will not deliver justice unless international criminal accountability is pursued. They warn that the absence of decisive action will embolden further violations and reinforce a culture of impunity.

Local tensions are further aggravated by the increasing appropriation of grazing lands and residential areas in the North and East for military use and religious expansionism, despite court orders. These developmentscombined with stalled investigations, continued use of the PTA, and lack of reparationscontribute to a growing sense of despair among victim communities, many of whom say that neither the Sri Lankan state nor the international community has met their basic expectations for justice.

As the international community deliberates on the next steps, the question remains: how much longer can Sri Lankas dual narrative go unchallenged With every exhumed skeleton and every unanswered plea from a grieving mother, the gap between Genevas diplomatic language and the lived reality of victims in the North and East grows ever wider. The time for symbolic statements is overwhat victims demand now is meaningful action.