CPA Comms Officer on 16 June, 2025

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights visit to Sri Lanka: Recommendations and Key Issues for Consideration

June 2025

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights H.E. Volker Turk is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka this month—the first visit by a High Commissioner since the 2024 election of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the National People’s Power (NPP) government. The visit takes place at a key moment in Sri Lanka with the country grappling with the effects of its ongoing governance and economic crises, cycles of past violence, and the lasting effects of a nearly three-decade conflict. The 2024 change of government promised reform and reignited hope that a new political culture would emerge.

Yet, seven months later, the implementation of confidence-building measures and key governance and legal reforms have been delayed. A significant section of society also faces severe socio-economic challenges. Amidst such a context, human rights abuses persist. The recent use of the Prevention of Terror Act (PTA) has violated the due process of suspects. Long-standing issues, such as land appropriation, continue to deny communities of their right to access, own and use their lands, freedom of movement, and means of survival. Reports of torture and custodial death have also occurred under the Dissanayake government. These and other issues expose the prevalence of human rights violations that threaten to reinforce historical patterns of violence and trigger future conflict. They are also critical indicators of the need for a prevention agenda and engagement in promoting human rights and strengthening the rule of law in Sri Lanka.

The visit takes place at this critical juncture when the government can be supported in their plans of implementing its own promises. In light of the impending visit, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) urges the High Commissioner and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to inform their meetings and messages to the government, state entities, and others with the following recommendations:

  1. Have a genuine and open dialogue with victims, survivors, and civil society in Sri Lanka, including visiting the war-affected areas in the North and East.
  2. Highlight the need for concrete steps to address accountability in Sri Lanka. This includes the need for tangible and time-bound progress on emblematic cases, legal and structural reforms, including the establishment of the promised Public Prosecutor’s Office, and other necessary reforms to ensure an independent and credible judicial process in Sri Lanka.
  3. Emphasize the need for an immediate moratorium on the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and its immediate repeal. Any future attempts at law reforms must adhere to international standards and be drafted after wide consultations.
  4. Highlight the need for other urgent legal reforms, including the repeal of the Online Safety Act (OSA), reform to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA), the Vagrancy Ordinance, provisions of the Penal Code, and other measures to ensure equality, non-discrimination, and the dignity of all citizens.
  5. Raise concerns about ongoing efforts at land appropriation and occupation that have dispossessed many individuals and communities. Particular attention must be paid to acquisitions in the North and East, a call for transparent land appropriation reforms that contain due process safeguards and address the grievances of affected communities.
  6. Visit sites of mass graves and raise the need for adherence to international standards of exhumation, recording, reporting, and identification.
  7. Reaffirm the right to religious worship and religious freedom.
  8. Raise the need for independent investigations into custodial torture and encounter killings, accountability for such violations, and urgent reforms in this regard.
  9. Highlight the continued challenges faced in civic spaces, including administrative and security issues that impede the work of human rights defenders, civil society, community groups, media, and others.
  10. Urge the Government of Sri Lanka to address persistent socio-economic challenges, including through the introduction of governance reforms that are just, fair, and equitable.
  11. Emphasize the importance of undertaking constitutional reforms in a transparent and timely manner that facilitate the abolition of the executive presidency, address a political solution, and bring required checks and balances, among other key reforms. These reforms should include a full implementation of Sri Lanka’s existing constitution, especially concerning the limited devolution of power granted by the 13th amendment, pending constitutional reform.
  12. Raise the need for a new Resolution on Sri Lanka with a two-year reporting period, that provides for continued monitoring and support for human rights, accountability, and reconciliation. CPA also recommends the renewal of the OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project (OSLAP) and its ability to visit Sri Lanka.

The human rights, accountability, and reconciliation issues underscored in these recommendations require urgent attention. CPA calls upon the High Commissioner and the OHCHR to use this visit to highlight these concerns and emphasize the need for immediate action, including a time-bound roadmap for implementation of reforms.

 

Centre for Policy Alternatives

 

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CPA Comms Officer on 13 June, 2025

Land Appropriation Continues to Threaten Northern and Eastern Communities

The appropriation of land under the guise of security, development and other reasons, in the Northern and Eastern provinces, highlights the complexities of Sri Lanka’s land related conflicts. Over the decades, several initiatives have been taken to dispossess people of their lands such as the creation of high security zones and special economic zones to more recently the use of “national heritage”. In several instances, laws and policies have been used in the attempts of appropriating lands, oftentimes done with scant regard for transparency, due process and the rights of citizens. This is in a context where the legal framework governing land in Sri Lanka is complex, with many unaware of legal and procedural tools that can be used to appropriate their lands thereby paving the way for dispossession and displacement.

For instance, the Land Acquisition Act, No. 09 of 1950 is one such tool that has been repeatedly employed by successive governments to dispossess people of their lands. It allows the state to acquire private land for ‘public purpose’. The overwhelming practice in the  Northern and Eastern provinces shows that this law has been used in an arbitrary manner and without affording citizens even the very limited protection the law offers. As per Section 2 of the Act, the Minister has the discretion to declare lands to be acquired and notice of land acquisition is to be made publicly available (displayed in conspicuous places) and to be displayed in all three official languages. In response to a Section 2 notice in 2013 affecting large tracts of land in the Valikamam North in the Jaffna Peninsula, writ applications were filed by 2,176 individuals from Jaffna. CA Writ 125/2013 (Arunasalam Kunabalasingham and 1473 others Vs. A. Sivaswamy and 2 others) and CA Writ 135/2013 were by petitioners who set out to bring to attention the forcible acquisition of an area of the Jaffna Peninsula equivalent to two-third of the entire city of Colombo. Several such attempts at acquisitions have been challenged in court with many mobilising over the years to prevent ad hoc and unjust attempts at land appropriation.

Another state initiative that attempted to appropriate land was via Land Circular No.2011/04 that required all landowners of the North and East, including private landowners to furnish details to the relevant Divisional Secretary or Assistant Government Agent, through the Grama Niladhari, within two months. Such a step meant that many private landowners of the North and East stood to lose title to their lands if they failed to furnish details within two months. In this instance, CPA and several others raised concerns with the broad powers provided under the Land Circular to dispossess individuals from their lands. Subsequently it was challenged in court (M.A Sumanthiran Vs. R.P.R Rajapaksha and others) in CA Writ Application 620/2011 and a Fundamental Rights Petition in the Supreme Court SC FR 494/2011 with the government withdrawing the said Circular.

Post war years have continued to see other attempts at land appropriation via the use of laws and policies and with the involvement of state and non-state actors including development and religious actors. CPA’s recent report (The Intersectional Trends of Land Conflicts in Sri Lanka) provides an overview of the range of actors, laws and policies that are at play and the consequences of such actions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Area Considered Under Land Settlement Ordinace Amount of Land Considered
Mullaitivu (Settlement Notice Nos. 5620, 5621, 5622) 1702 Acres
Jaffna (Settlement Notice Nos. 5617, 5618) 3669 Acres
Kilinochchi (Settlement Notice No. 5619) 515 Acres
Mannar (Settlement Notice No 5623) 54 Acres

 

In the most recent attempt, the government issued Gazette No. 2430 on 28th of March 2025 that stated that lands in the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, and Mullaitivu will be claimed as State land if the owners of such lands do not claim them before the 28th of June 2025.

CPA and local politicians have raised this issue which resulted in the government promising to revoke the Gazette but at the time of writing no such revocation has taken place in terms of the law. On 12 June 2025, M. A. Sumanthiran filed a fundamental rights application SC FR 112/2025 in the Supreme Court challenging the Gazette.

This Gazette is the most recent attempt by the state to dispossess people via the use of legal and policy initiatives, further exacerbating fears and apprehensions among people of their ability to fully enjoy and use their lands. The numerous initiatives over the years also demonstrates the continued use of the law and administrative processes to appropriate lands, against the background of successive governments failing to fully implement the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution that provides for the limited devolution of land powers to the provinces and the establishment of the National Land Commission. These and other land issues are indicative that the root causes of the conflict continue to be sustained in Sri Lanka.

 

Centre for Policy Alternatives
13.06.2025 

CPA Comms Officer on 4 April, 2025

Concerns over the continued use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)

3 April 2025
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned with the continued use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) by the Sri Lankan state. According to media reports, a youth was recently arrested under the PTA for allegedly pasting stickers that criticised the actions of Israel in Gaza. It is also concerning that the Government has over the past five months utilised the PTA on several occasions including for alleged conduct that has seemingly no known link to terrorism. Furthermore, the arrest of an individual on the basis of voicing an opinion is alarming with wide implications on the right to free speech and dissent. 

This is against the backdrop of President Dissanayake and the Government promising in their campaign manifesto to abolish ‘all oppressive acts including the PTA and ensuring civil rights of people in all parts of the country’. CPA also notes that the President and others in the Government have in the past demanded for the repeal of the PTA, acknowledging then of the abuse caused by the PTA. Despite repeated promises to repeal the PTA, it is regrettable that the Government has backtracked on their own statements, and continues to use the PTA.

CPA and several others have, over the decades, continuously called for the repeal of the PTA. This law, initially introduced as a temporary provision, and later extended as a permanent law, has been used to terrorise generations of Sri Lankans, largely targeting those from ethnic and religious minorities, activists, dissidents, and journalists and normalised torture, with it entrenching a culture of impunity. Such practices should remain in Sri Lankas past, with the Government needing to make a clear break that sees an immediate moratorium of the PTA and its repeal. 

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CPA Comms Officer on 8 March, 2025

Letter to the Minister of Women and Child Affairs

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, I write on behalf of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) to urge immediate attention to urgent law and policy reforms towards women empowerment and gender equality. We recognise your efforts, particularly during the CEDAW intervention in February this year, towards upholding and advancing the rights of women in Sri Lanka. However, considering the ground realities we have seen in our years working with communities across the island, there is much work to be done in this regard.

We believe that your leadership is critical at this moment to drive interventions that address multi- dimensional vulnerabilities faced by women and gender minorities in Sri Lanka. Between November 2024 and February 2025, CPA also wrote to his excellency President Dissanayake and Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Minister of Justice and National Integration, to raise issues regarding key interventions that are required in the upcoming months to uphold the rights of the Sri Lankan citizenry, including these vulnerable groups.

CPA’s ongoing work with women and other marginalised and vulnerable groups emphasises the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders transparently in shaping the reform process. Collaborative approaches that take into account diverse perspectives can significantly enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of reform initiatives.

In this regard, annexed to this letter are several areas with relevance to gender and sexual rights where CPA believes intervention is required. These areas have been categorised under the following three-fold framework: (1) Law Reforms and Policy Interventions, (2) Socio-economic rights, includingAccess to Land, Livelihoods and Natural Resources and (3) Representation, Reconciliation and Identity. CPA urges your ministry to prioritise these areas for intervention in the upcoming legislative and policy agenda and hopes that immediate steps will be taken to build a system of justice that reflects the aspirations of all Sri Lankans. CPA also welcomes an opportunity to discuss these matters with you further and offers our continued support in implementing reforms aimed at empowering women and advancing gender equality to transform Sri Lanka. We look forward to your response and to seeing positive steps in this regard.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu

Executive Director

 

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CPA Comms Officer on 19 February, 2025

Calls for a Public Prosecutor’s Office – The Urgent need for reforms

19 February 2025

In early February 2025, media reported of the Attorney General’s intention to discharge three suspects in case number B 92/2009. The case was linked to the murder of senior editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, and the decision to discharge the suspects led to criticisms from sections of society. This resulted in President Anura Kumara Dissanayake meeting with the Attorney General where it was reported that the Attorney General maintained his position that there was a lack of evidence for a prosecution. Since then, it is reported that the CID has produced more evidence, and the discharge of the suspects has been temporarily suspended. These incidents drew into sharp focus the need to ensure the independence of prosecutorial decisions, in order to ensure that relevant decisions can be made independent of any political considerations and in the interest of justice.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has continuously called for the independent prosecution of all emblematic cases, many of which have seen little to no progress despite the promise to pursue accountability. The assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge is one such case. In a context of political influence and interference with the investigations and prosecutions of emblematic cases, CPA has consistently advocated for the setting up of an independent public prosecutor’s office in Sri Lanka.

Considering the setbacks with pursuing justice, the proposed office must be insulated from political interference, and have the required expertise and resources to prosecute cases that may otherwise be prone to political interference. Despite the need to reform the present justice sector, successive governments have been unable or unwilling to introduce the required reforms to implement a structure that ensures independence and accountability. CPA notes the commitment by then candidate Dissanayake to introduce a ‘Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) as a mechanism to eliminate delays within the judicial system and establishing a main DPP office and sub offices in the provinces which will remain independent of the Attorney General’s Department to conduct cases on behalf of the government’  in his election manifesto.

Most recently, the Minister for Justice and National Integration has taken steps to appoint an expert committee as an initial step in establishing an independent prosecutor’s office. CPA notes such a process must be inclusive and must involve the participation of those who have called for justice sector reforms, including victims, lawyers, academics, civil society and others. Such a process facilitates a greater discussion on key issues, engages relevant stakeholders and garners trust in the fact that the present government is genuinely interested in initiating reforms in a transparent and accountable manner. Further, such a step will instil confidence among the public that reforms are meant to strengthen the rule of law and democracy in Sri Lanka and not merely as a token gesture to appease sections of society.

Against such a background, CPA has prepared this Q&A surrounding the need for a Public Prosecutor’s Office. This Q&A is not meant to be exhaustive, but is meant to be a resource that can be used to constructively engage with the existing discourse around the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

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CPA Comms Officer on 31 January, 2025

Navigating Sri Lanka’s Economic Precarity: The Need to Address Foundational Issues in Governance

A robust economic recovery for Sri Lanka requires an understanding of how the country fell into economic precarity. The learnings of both the Civil Society Governance Diagnostic Report and the International Monetary Fund’s Governance Diagnostic Assessment of Sri Lanka made it apparent that Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is first a crisis of governance. In other words, Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is primarily the product of issues in governance rather than economic failure. Moreover, unless the “foundational governance issues” are addressed the policies and plans for debt sustainability and economic recovery are likely to “be on shaky ground” (TISL 2023: 3). As the aforementioned reports already identify Sri Lanka’s governance issues and offer recommendations, this Brief does not replicate that exercise. Instead, it intends to tangibly demonstrate how said issues contributed to the economic crisis through a selection of case studies. More specifically, the Brief demonstrates how the excessive powers and discretion held by the executive branch of government, as well as weaknesses in tax policy and revenue administration, the public sector, public procurement, central bank governance, and anti-corruption — all issues of governance — heavily contributed to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.

Of the issues and subsequent case studies examined within the Brief, a few are worth reiterating here. Firstly, the concentration of power within the executive presidency, intended to enable decisive action towards economic development, has resulted in unilateral and opaque decision-making. This has, in turn, facilitated incompetence or corruption. Presidential decisions that contributed to the crisis demonstrate this issue. For instance, in 2019, then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa disregarded economic expertise and introduced a tax policy that severely reduced government tax revenue. This adversely affected the country’s capacity to repay debt and further depleted its foreign currency reserves, catalysing Sri Lanka’s trajectory towards national insolvency. The lack of checks and balances on the President meant that there was no way to prevent him for following through on his reckless election promises even though the danger was foreseen. Therefore, it is essential to abolish the executive presidency and vest its powers in the collective deliberation and decision-making of Parliament. At a minimum, reducing individual discretion in decision-making will prevent the colossal errors that have resulted from the absence of checks and balances on the executive presidency.

Secondly, government expenditure in the public sector is excessive and has little impact. The large number of public sector employees burdens the government purse, nor does it have anything to show for it in the form of efficient public service delivery. The military illustrates this in having and spending on far too many personnel which does not translate to the country’s defensive needs. This is unlikely to be the only example of this from the public sector. The public sector should be proportionate to each government department’s needs.

Thirdly, the state must have a coherent rationale for engaging in the market. Due to its limited capacity with state-owned enterprises, the state should exit competitive markets where the private sector can deliver goods and services more cheaply, efficiently, and at better quality. Before being acquired back by the Sri Lankan government in 2008, Sri Lankan Airlines managed a profit of LKR 9.29 billion in its last year of private operation (The Sunday Times 2016). Despite increased tourism and low fuel prices over the next seven years, Sri Lankan Airlines as a state-owned enterprise experienced a loss of LKR 128.2 billion (ibid.). Privatising such state-owned enterprises would boost tax revenue, productivity, and reduce government expenses.

Lastly, the absence of punitive action against corruption has resulted in its prevalence throughout government. It is essential that anti-corruption measures are shielded from political influence and sufficiently resourced to recover losses due to corruption, and more importantly, to serve as a deterrent to corruption. Ensuring the autonomy of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption and establishing an independent Public Prosecutor’s office are first steps in that regard.

Of course, this Brief does not exhaustively discuss Sri Lanka’s issues in governance that contributed to the crisis. However, the central takeaway is that Sri Lanka is experiencing a crisis of governance and its recovery from national insolvency and overall economic precarity necessitates addressing the foundational governance issues that plague the country.

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CPA Comms Officer on 4 December, 2024

Letter to the Honourable Minister of Justice

Following the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the National People’s Power (NPP) has been entrusted with a significant mandate by the people of Sri Lanka, presenting you with the opportunity to drive key reforms to restore public trust, transparent governance, justice, and accountability. On behalf of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), I am writing to you to urge immediate attention to the law and policy reforms within the areas of justice and national integration.

The Aragalaya highlighted the critical need for comprehensive governance reforms, drawing attention to long-standing public demands for decisive measures against corruption and the pervasive lack of accountability that have severely undermined trust in state institutions. In this context, CPA and other stakeholders have repeatedly underscored the urgent need to address issues such as greater transparency and accountability, executive overreach, the politicisation of institutions, and the entrenched culture of impunity.

Moreover, the inability and unwillingness of successive governments to address the underlying causes of conflict has further entrenched societal divisions, intensified surveillance, and increased the risk of both reigniting existing conflicts and sparking new tensions. Of particular concern is the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) on several occasions, between October and December 2024, which raises questions about the NPP’s campaign pledge to repeal oppressive legislation, including the PTA.

Considering the promises made during the campaign period and the massive mandate for reforms, CPA believes it is critical to initiate progressive reforms. CPA emphasises the importance of engaging with diverse stakeholders in a transparent manner in shaping reform processes. Collaborative approaches that take into account diverse perspectives can significantly enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of reform initiatives.

In this regard, annexed to this letter are several areas where CPA believes intervention is required. These areas have been categorised under a four-fold framework of (1) Governance and Accountability, (2) Law-Making, (3) Reconciliation, and (4) Legal reforms and addressing Structural Inequalities.

CPA urges your ministry to prioritise these areas for intervention in the upcoming legislative and policy agenda and hope that immediate steps will be taken to build a system of justice that reflects the aspirations of all citizens. CPA also welcomes an opportunity to discuss these matters further and offers our continued support in implementing the necessary reforms.

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