Human Rights Watch accused Sri Lankan leaders of backtracking on pledges made to the UN Human Rights Council over a year ago, as the government faces further scrutiny at Geneva later this month.
“It’s crucial that the Human Rights Council consider closely whether Sri Lanka made progress in the security sector as well as its other commitments such as transitional justice,” said Brad Adams, the organisation’s Asia director, noting the lack of reforms made by Colombo.
In particular, HRW highlighted the little change in the Sri Lankan security sector and the continued use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to detain suspects without charge.
“A number of those arrested in 2016 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act were implicated in committing or plotting terrorist crimes,” Mr Adams said. “Yet there was no good reason for not using the regular criminal code rather than an abusive law that should have been repealed years ago.”
“Nearly 18 months after making important promises to the council, Sri Lanka’s leaders appear to be backtracking on key human rights issues, including reforming the police,” Mr Adams continued.
He went on to lay out actions that the Sri Lankan government can take to curtail torture carried out by security forces, which requires “serious reforms of the security sector, prosecutions of those responsible, and sustained political will from the top”.
“The Human Rights Council can rev up this process by addressing torture and police reform in its review of Sri Lanka’s compliance with the council’s resolution.”
See more from HRW here.