The United Nations has welcomed several recent steps taken by Sri Lanka to advance human rights, accountability and reconciliation, while calling for continued progress on legal and institutional reforms.
Addressing the 63rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Awa Dabo said the Government had taken important steps towards investigating and prosecuting cases involving alleged political killings and enforced disappearances.
She highlighted the recent filing of indictments against a former politician and others in connection with the 2006 murder of the Vice-Chancellor of Eastern University. She also noted the arrest of a former intelligence chief and the convictions of a former police chief and a senior defence official in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings.
The UN also welcomed measures taken by the Government to combat corruption and Sri Lanka’s recent ratification of an International Labour Organization convention addressing violence and harassment in the workplace, including gender-based abuses.
At the same time, the UN Human Rights Office noted that broader accountability for serious human rights violations committed during Sri Lanka’s decades-long armed conflict remains limited and urged continued efforts towards reconciliation, justice and human rights reform.
