At the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), serious concerns were raised regarding the state of democracy, judicial independence, and fundamental freedoms in Sri Lanka. Addressing the Council, Milinda Rajapaksa, a strong Rajapaksa loyalist, highlighted what was described as a growing concentration of executive power and its impact on the country’s constitutional safeguards, legal institutions, and civil liberties.
Milinda Rajapaksa is not a relation of the Rajapaksa family but has been a high-level representative of the Rajapaksa politics for a a long time.
His interventiona at HRC 63 fellows:
Honourable Deputy Chairperson, We express our profound concern regarding the serious and escalating threats to individual liberty, the rule of law, and the necessary checks and balances in Sri Lanka. Through the executive’s unbounded influence, the fundamental values upon which the Republic of Sri Lanka was founded are being systematically undermined. Arrests targeting opposition politicians such as Namal Rajapaksa clearly demonstrate political victimization and the selective enforcement of the law against chosen individuals.
The continued detention of former State Intelligence Service Director Suresh Sallie further intensifies this, thereby highlighting serious shortcomings in judicial oversight and due legal process. Such arbitrary detention practices exacerbate the already severe overcrowding in prisons. The recent deadly prison riots have exposed the inhumane conditions that threaten the lives of all inmates. By altering the retirement age of serving judges during their tenure, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution causes harm to judicial independence and obstructs the administration of justice, further heightening systemic risks.
As warned by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, this creates executive patronage and influence over the judiciary. The Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association has also pointed out serious procedural flaws in the failure to grant petitioners challenging this Bill the opportunity to present their case before a full bench of judges and the denial of the right to oral submissions.
Furthermore, proposed amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act empower the Director General to issue certifications that restrict the granting of bail, thereby paving the way for the executive to keep selected individuals in remand custody for extended periods before trial. Finally, the government’s overall actions, particularly targeting social media journalists, pose a direct threat to the right to express dissenting views and to the freedom of speech and expression. We urge this Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to maintain active and ongoing monitoring of Sri Lanka. Thank you, Honourable Deputy Chairperson.
(A translation of a Sinhala languge post by Milinda Rajapaksha @milindarj )