International Rights Group, Human Rights Watch says the United Nations Human Rights Council should maintain its rigorous scrutiny of Sri Lanka’s worsening human rights situation and press for genuine improvements.
It said at the council’s upcoming session, which begins on Monday, UN member countries should express their alarm about the ongoing alleged abuses by the government and the weakening of independent governmental institutions, civilian governance, and the rule of law.
South Asia director at Human Rights Watch Meenakshi Ganguly said UN countries should demonstrate their willingness to press the Sri Lankan government to meet its international human rights obligations.
She said, “Since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office in 2019, the limited progress Sri Lanka had made in addressing past alleged abuses has been disastrously reversed.”
Earlier in 2021, the Human Rights Council adopted the resolution, 46/1, to advance accountability for past rights violations and alleged crimes committed in Sri Lanka.
The resolution also mandated regular reporting by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In 2020, the present administration had renounced the previous government’s commitments to the Human Rights Council to provide justice and end abuses.
