{"id":151361,"date":"2025-08-14T15:50:41","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T22:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=151361"},"modified":"2025-08-14T15:50:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T22:50:41","slug":"un-rights-chief-urges-govt-to-amend-laws-that-unduly-restrict-rights-and-freedoms-of-sri-lankans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2025\/08\/14\/un-rights-chief-urges-govt-to-amend-laws-that-unduly-restrict-rights-and-freedoms-of-sri-lankans\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Rights Chief urges Govt to amend laws that unduly restrict rights and freedoms of Sri Lankans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy Adaderana<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk has urged the Sri Lankan government to repeal or amend existing laws or proposed laws that unduly restrict the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, association, and peaceful assembly, including the Online Safety Act, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, draft Non-Governmental Organizations (Registration and Supervision) Act, and proposed amendments to Personal Data Protection Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a new report issued on Sri Lanka, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk said the Sri Lankan government\u2019s pledges to deliver justice, restore the rule of law, and eliminate discrimination and divisive politics must finally yield concrete results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, an opportunity presents itself for Sri Lanka to break from the past,\u201d he said. It now needs a comprehensive roadmap to translate these commitments into results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report follows High Commissioner T\u00fcrk\u2019s recent visit to Sri Lanka, where he met officials, civil society groups, political parties and religious leaders, and travelled to Trincomalee, Jaffna and Kandy \u2013 among the worst-affected areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report also calls for a clear acknowledgment of the alleged violations and abuses committed \u2013 including during the civil war \u2013 and recognition of the State\u2019s responsibility and that of the non-state armed groups, including the LTTE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pain and suffering of victims remains palpable and their demands for truth and justice must be addressed,\u201d T\u00fcrk stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report recommends comprehensive security sector reform and broader constitutional, legal and institutional changes to meet international human rights obligations. It welcomes the planned creation of an independent Public Prosecutor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also urges the establishment of a dedicated judicial mechanism, including an independent special counsel, to handle cases involving alleged human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other recommendations include the release of military-held land in the north and east, repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and the release of long-term PTA detainees \u2013 some imprisoned for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report further calls for amendments or repeal of several restrictive laws, including those relating to data and online safety, NGOs, and civil and political rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the primary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting crimes lies with the Government, the report by the High Commissioner also calls for complementary international support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It urges UN Member States to contribute to accountability and reconciliation efforts, leveraging OHCHR\u2019s strengthened capacity to undertake related work.
These measures are crucial to realizing the Government\u2019s vision of \u2018national unity\u2019 and above all ensuring there can never be recurrence of past violations,\u201d Mr. T\u00fcrk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy Adaderana UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk has urged the Sri Lankan government to repeal or amend existing laws or proposed laws that unduly restrict the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, association, and peaceful assembly, including the Online Safety Act, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Act, draft Non-Governmental […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}