UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet acknowledged Sri Lanka’s legal, institutional, and constitutional reforms, but added concerns remain about the lack of accountability in Sri Lanka after gross violations of human rights.

Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted setbacks to accountability for past human rights violations and the recognition of victims’ rights, Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva.

“The High Commissioner highlights particularly the continuing precarious situation of the families of the disappeared – the majority of whom are represented by women,” she said, urging  Sri Lankan authorities to acknowledge their sufferings, urgently determine the fate or whereabouts of victims, provide reparations, and bring perpetrators to justice.

In her report, Bachelet said human rights violations and abuses were continuing to spread throughout the country. The steps taken so far have done little to address past human rights violations or redress the harm done to victims.

Since the 1980s, when ethnic strife began in the island country, an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 people from all ethnic and religious communities have disappeared. To this day, the fate of thousands of those who have gone missing remains unknown.

The suffering of the families of the disappeared was immense and must be acknowledged by the government, Ravina Shamdasani said, urging that victims must receive reparations and that perpetrators of these crimes must be brought to justice.

“The reason why we are highlighting these issues is because we have very serious issues," she said.

"I mean, the militarization, the ethnoreligious nationalism, the continued lack of accountability. And you couple that with a pattern of surveillance and harassment of those who try to speak out — civil society organizations, human rights defenders, journalists — and it is a recipe for further human rights violations,” she added.

She also said the Prevention of Terrorism Act amendment bill, which was presented to parliament on February 10, was an important initial step. 

"However, other proposed amendments do comply fully with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations, and it leaves intact some of the most problematic provisions of the PTA, the Prevention of Terrorism Act,” she added.

The report prepared by OHCHR will be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which begins a five-week session next week. 

(SAM)