US 'carefully reviewing' UN report on Human Right situation in Sri Lanka

The US has said that it was carefully reviewing a report from the United Nations (UN) on the human right situation in Sri Lanka. Speaking at a press briefing, Ned Price, spokesperson for US State Department confirmed the news saying that the American authorities were “carefully reviewing” the significant report from the UN Human Rights Council. Later, Price also made a tweet wherein he stressed that Sri Lanka’s future depended on taking right measures against human rights violations.

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Catastrophic trends

The report depicts catastrophic trends in the country including deepening impunity, increasing militarization of governmental functions, ethno nationalist rhetoric and intimidation of the civil society over the past year. It also warns that Sri Lanka was moving on a trajectory that could lead to the recurrence of the policies that paved way for grave human rights violations.

“Among the early warning signals, the report highlights are, the accelerating militarization of civilian governmental functions, a reversal of important constitutional safeguards, political obstruction of accountability, exclusionary rhetoric, intimidation of civil society and the use of anti-terrorism laws,” excerpt from the report cited by ANI. 

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It has been 12 years since the gruesome war between the Sri Lankan government and separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended. However, the report said that impunity to the war criminals on both sides is entrenched more than ever. It called out the country’s current government for obstructing investigations and trials and also for reversing all the progress made in the case.

As per the United Nations, over 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces during the civil war that stretched for nearly three decades. Although LTTE lost the war, it put the country amidst peril and poverty. Warning that the country could face a similar situation in near future, the comprehensive report urges enhanced monitoring and strong preventive action by the international community.

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(With inputs from ANI)