The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on the Sri Lankan government to take action against the ongoing intimidation of Tamil civil society actors, journalists, and activists in the North-East, as well as deliver justice for rights violations and holding perpetrators accountable.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Sri Lankan government under Anura Kumara Dissanayake has categorically rejected several UN resolutions on accountability, reaffirming its refusal to engage with international mechanisms investigating war crimes and human rights violations.

The move, a repeat of its position at the last UN session in September, signals a continuation of the state’s entrenched impunity, despite the new administration’s rhetoric of reform and reconciliation.

Jaffna MP Archchuna Ramanathan highlighted the racist double standards in how Tamil and Sinhala leaders are treated and condemned the ongoing political manipulation of ethnic tensions on the island, in a speech to parliament last week.

“Our brothers and sisters, nearly 55,000 of them, died by coming through our own communities. They came through our people and did not drop down from above. So that makes us terrorists,” he told the house.

Tamil National People’s Front MP, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, has told Sri Lanka's Parliament that he will continue voting against the budget until a fair solution for the Tamil people has been settled.