Sri Lanka, Country Page, World

Description

Human rights in Sri Lanka remain at serious risk in the face of security force abuses committed with impunity and an economic crisis that reduced the living standards of millions. To silence dissent, President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration has introduced sweeping powers of censorship and proposed laws to constrain civic space. The police have suppressed protests against inequity, corruption, and lack of accountability for past abuses. The government is blocking justice for atrocities linked to the 26-year armed conflict that ended in 2009, while victims of abuses and activists are subjected to surveillance and intimidation. In 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Council renewed and strengthened a mandate for the UN to collect evidence of gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law for future prosecutions.