Human Rights Watch in a letter addressed to Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has called on him to address the island's many human rights problems by fulfilling and building upon pledges he made in recent election campaigns. 

In the letter sent by Elaine Pearson, Asia Director for the HRW, she states that the organisation welcomes the pledges he made during the campaigns to address several long-standing human rights issues, including by repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), removing abusive provisions of the Online Safety Act, establishing an independent Directorate of Public Prosecutions separate from the attorney general’s office, and revisiting policies that have unfairly distributed the burden of the response to the economic crisis while addressing its root causes.

"Sri Lanka’s many pressing human rights concerns have largely gone unaddressed by previous administrations. As a priority, your government should take steps towards assisting those most harmed by the economic crisis; end policies and practices by the security forces that target minority communities, victims of rights violations and members of civil society, especially in the north and east; and work to bring those responsible for rights violations and corruption to justice. We welcome that your government has already pledged to address some of these issues,"  she says in the letter.

HRW added that the consecutive governments have all failed to act on recommendations to ensure truth, reparations and accountability, or to engage in systemic law enforcement reforms that would help prevent future violations. "Your government should act on the evidence collected by previous commissions of inquiry, reform or replace the Office of Missing Persons, and ensure instead a body that has the trust of victims’ families and technical capacity to identify remains discovered in mass graves. We also urge you to cooperate with the United Nations Accountability Project to help ensure future prosecutions for serious violations."

With regards to enforced disappearances, the has called on Dissanayake to end the security forces’ harassment and intimidation of relatives of the disappeared who are campaigning for truth and justice; accept international technical assistance to investigate mass graves throughout the island, and identify remains including by DNA testing; reform or replace the OMP, to ensure a body that is credible in the eyes of victims’ families, and upholds their rights; use evidence gathered by the OMP and numerous commissions of inquiry to reveal the fate of the disappeared and to allow robust and independent criminal investigations and prosecutions of people accused of responsibility for enforced disappearances.

The rights organization also pointed out that Dissanayake in his manifesto mentions a commitment to the “[a]bolition of all oppressive acts including the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and ensuring civil rights of people in all parts of the country".

Hence they urged him to "immediately impose a full moratorium on the use of the PTA, and promptly implement your commitment to repeal it; release remaining long-term PTA prisoners who were convicted on the basis of confessions obtained under torture, ensure that any new counterterrorism legislation is compliant with international human rights standards and direct security agencies to end the harassment and intimidation of people, mostly Tamils and Muslims, who were previously accused under the PTA and released due to lack of evidence".

“President Dissanayake faces a daunting list of human rights problems, including enduring discrimination against minority communities, which has long divided the country,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at HRW. “To live up to its commitments for reform, the new administration should prioritize addressing the entrenched impunity surrounding decades of grave violations, corruption and financial mismanagement, and abusive security force practices severely restricting the rights of Tamils and Muslims.”

“President Dissanayake and his new government have an opportunity to deliver long-sought-after reforms to governance,” Ganguly said. “Dissanayake should follow through and build upon his rights commitments to set a new course for human rights in Sri Lanka.”

The full letter can be accessed here.