Ranjith Soysa Spokesperson, Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka

To: The President of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

• The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG)

• Member States of the United Nations

Dear Respected Officials,

We, the undersigned concerned citizens, legal scholars, and members of civil society in Sri Lanka and abroad, write to express our strongest objection to the continued reference to and reliance upon the so-called Darusman Report — a document that lacks legal standing, was produced without proper authorization, and has since been used to undermine Sri Lanka’s

sovereignty, distort its history, and weaponize the United Nations’ human rights mechanisms for political ends.

Our Concerns

1. Lack of legal mandate and transparency

The Darusman Report was personally commissioned by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, without any formal mandate from the UN General Assembly or the UN Security Council. As such, it constitutes a private, extrajudicial, and unilateral inquiry, devoid of institutional legitimacy. Compiled using anonymous and unverifiable sources, the process denied the Government of Sri Lanka any opportunity to be notified, participate, respond to allegations, or cross-examine witnesses — violating the UN’s own principles of natural justice and fairness. These omissions amount to serious breaches of the principles of natural justice, due process, and state sovereignty, and they violate key provisions of international law.

2. Violation of due process and fair hearing rights and the denial of the right to a fair hearing contradicts:

• Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which guarantees the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent tribunal;

• Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), affirming rights to a fair trial, to examine evidence, and to defend oneself.

3. Violation of State Sovereignty

According to Article 2(7) of the United Nations Charter, the UN must respect the sovereignty of member states and refrain from intervening in matters within their domestic jurisdiction. The Darusman Report undermines Sri Lanka’s sovereignty by circumventing legal and diplomatic protocols.

4. Procedural and Evidentiary Irregularities Key evidence, including testimonies, remains sealed for 30 years, deliberately preventing verification, rebuttal, and due scrutiny — a gross violation of principles of transparency and justice. The Darusman Report and subsequent UNHRC/OHCHR

narratives rely on one-sided, uncorroborated accounts, while entirely ignoring that the conduct of armed conflict must be assessed under international humanitarian law (IHL), not human rights law. The persistent focus by OHCHR and UNHRC on how the LTTE died and the unverified claim of 40,000 civilian deaths blatantly disregards the paradoxical reality that the Sri Lankan Armed Forces rescued close to 300,000 Tamil civilians from LTTE captivity. These civilians were provided with food, shelter, medical care, and were shielded from further harm — actions for which Sri Lankan soldiers have been praised by international humanitarian agencies on the ground.

Shockingly, none of these life-saving efforts are given serious recognition in any UN statements; where mentioned, they are only noted in passing, undermining both the spirit of impartiality and the UN’s own declared standards of fact-based reporting.

5. Geopolitical and historical Hypocrisy

The United States, which initially championed the UNHRC resolutions based on the Darusman Report, has since withdrawn its active role and passed leadership of the Core Group overseeing Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom. We call upon the UK, as the

current head of this Core Group, to first address and account for over 100 years of colonial crimes, exploitation, violence, and subjugation in Sri Lanka before demanding accountability from a sovereign nation striving to heal and rebuild.

Our Demands

1. Immediate Withdrawal and Disavowal of the Darusman Report

We call on the UNHRC, OHCHR, and the UN Secretary-General to officially withdraw the Darusman Report from all UN records and public discourse, recognizing its lack of legitimacy

2. Institutional Accountability and Review

3. We demand a system-wide review of the procedures and mandates governing UN

investigative bodies to ensure compliance with international law, fairness, and respect for state sovereignty.

4. A New Transparent Investigation

Any future investigations related to Sri Lanka must be conducted transparently, with full participation of the Sri Lankan government, respecting due process and evidentiary standards.

5. Respect for International Legal Norms and Historical Context

We urge the UN system to uphold its obligations under the UDHR, ICCPR, and UN Charter, and to consider the broader historical and geopolitical context — including the colonial legacy of the UK — in its dealings with Sri Lanka.

We acknowledge that this appeal is directed in part to bodies whose conduct is in question. We do so not out of hostility, but out of commitment to justice. If the UN is to remain a credible defender of human rights, it must demonstrate the courage to reflect, to correct, and to uphold the same standards it demands of others.

The continued use of the Darusman Report compromises the legitimacy of the UN’s human rights mechanisms.

We therefore urge you to take swift corrective action in the interest of truth, law, and the dignity of the international system.

Ranjith Soysa

Spokesperson, Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka