Open letter to Rights Commissioner Volker Turk from militarised North & East of Sri Lanka

A Social movement collective from the North East, has sent a statement to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is expected to visit Sri Lanka soon.

The statement highlights key issues that we believe should be taken into consideration during their visit. It has been signed by sixty-five social activists and civil society organizations from the North and East.

His Excellency Volker Turk
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Paquin
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland.

June 13, 2025

Dear Mr. High Commissioner,

We, the undersigned, we appreciate the dedicated efforts of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, along with its unwavering commitment and support for accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Successive governments in Sri Lanka have consistently failed to prevent the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Tamil people, particularly in the North and East, since historical times. Instead of ensuring peace and justice, even 15 years after the end of the armed conflict, these governments have effectively forced the people of the North and East to live under conditions akin to a shadow war.

Currently, both the civil and security apparatuses of the Sri Lankan state remain instruments of oppression against the Tamil people in the North and East.

In these regions, more than seven different state mechanisms have systematically appropriated the residential and livelihood lands of Tamil-speaking communities either through flawed legal processes or without any legal basis at all. As a result, Tamils are being displaced from their ancestral lands.

These actions are perceived as calculated attempts to erase the identity of the Tamil people, undermine their political representation, and push them towards a state of planned genocide. To this day, many human rights defenders, activists, and affected individuals have been

subjected to intimidation and surveillance orchestrated by Sri Lanka’s military and intelligence apparatus.

Moreover, the Sri Lankan state has consistently failed to disclose the truth about those who forcibly disappeared, or to take responsibility for the war crimes, acts of genocide, mass graves, and human rights violations committed during the conflict. Instead, the state has sought to evade accountability through diplomatic maneuvering.

It is also worth noting that Sri Lanka continues to deny visas to members of the OHCHR Sri Lanka accountability project (OSLAP) under Resolution 46/1 of the UN Human Rights Council and has refused to cooperate or support the implementation of this initiative in any meaningful way.

In this context, we understand that you are scheduled to visit Sri Lanka this month. Therefore, we respectfully urge you to consider the following key issues during and after your visit:

1. Urge a visit to the mass graves, particularly the Chemmani site, where the remains of massacred Tamils are interred, to confront the extent of the atrocities committed.
2. Support the establishment of an international investigative mechanism to uncover the truth and deliver justice for the enforced disappeared persons in the North and East.
3. Conduct a visit to Mullaitivu-Mullivaikkal, the site of the final battles of the war, and engage with affected communities to hear their testimonies and concerns.
4. Engage actively with civil society organizations, journalists, and families of the disappeared in the North and East to gain an informed understanding of the current situation on the ground.
5. Inspect lands still being expropriated by the government in the Northern and Eastern provinces to assess ongoing land confiscations.
6. Call upon the Sri Lankan government to invite international observers to oversee the excavation and examination of over 21 mass graves identified across the country.
7. Urge the international community to initiate proceedings against Sri Lanka before the International Criminal Court for its failure to address mass graves and war crimes.
8. Apply diplomatic pressure on the Sri Lankan government to permit entry to the OHCHR Sri Lanka accountability project (OSLAP) for investigation and documentation purposes.
9. Recommend that member states of the Human Rights Council ensure the independent functioning of the OHCHR Sri Lanka accountability Project (OSLAP).
10. Recommend that the OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project (OSLAP) be extended for another two years by the Council’s member states.
11. Strongly urge the Sri Lankan government to incorporate the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) into national law.
12. Call for the full repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and other restrictive security legislation that undermines human rights.
13. Propose the establishment of a joint or hybrid mechanism, involving both the Sri Lankan government and UN Human Rights Council member states, to safeguard the safety of victims, human rights defenders, civil society actors, and journalists.
14. Take immediate action to return land seized from the public to its rightful civilian owners.
15. Ensure that the right to worship and religious freedom is safeguarded through concrete measures by the Sri Lankan government.
16. Urge swift and thorough investigations into the killings and disappearances of over 40 journalists to guarantee accountability and justice.
17. Push for immediate, meaningful steps towards a durable political solution to Sri Lanka’s protracted 76-year-long ethnic conflict.

Signed by sixty-five social activists and Civil organizations

CC: United Nations Human Rights Council Core Group on Sri Lanka

Social Activists

1. C. Christiraj – Journalist
2. Nirojan-LLB
3. Alakurasa Mathan
4. Canagasabai Thevakadatcham
5. Anesly Y. Newman – Freelance Consultant – Human Rights Activist
6. R. Shrignaneswaran
7. S. Hayakirivan
8. Ganesamoorthy Gurukkal
9. Kandumani Lavakusarasa(Coordinator, North-East Social Movement-NESM)
10. Keshihan Ilamuruganathan
11. Lokanathan Gurukkal
12. Noorul Ismiya
13. Luxmanarajani – Jeyapragash
14. Priyankan -IBC Tamil.
15. Prashandini Uthayakumar-Attorney-at-law
16. Rasathurai Sivendran
17. Fr. T. Jeevaraj, SJ
18. Rajan Rohaan – Christian Priest
19. Mathiyarasu
20. Sabaratnam Sivayoganathan
21. Seeniththampi Thiyagarajah
22. Sellathurai Mathiyarasi
23. Thampirasa Nemeeshwaran
24. Thampirarsa Selvarani
25. Thuraignayagam Sanjeevan – Journalist
26. Balasuresh
27. Kirishnakumar – President, Batti Press Club
28. Velan Kumari
29. Veluppillai Thavarajah

Civil Organizations

30. Aham, Humanitarian Resource Center (AHRC), Trincomalee
31. Alternative Youth Federation – Batticaloa
32. Alternative Youth Federation – Trincomalee
33. Association for the Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances – Ampara
34. Association for the Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances – Trincomalee
35. Batticaloa District Cooperative Federation
36. Batti Press Club
37. Christian Solidarity Movement, Sri Lanka
38. Civil and Political Rights AMAYAM, Eastern Province
39. Civil Society Activists’ Union, Batticaloa
40. Democratic Forum Eastern Province
41. Eastern Province Hindu Priests’ Union
42. Eastern Journalist Forum (Eastern Press Club), Batticaloa
43. Environmental Protection Organization – Save Vaharai Organization
44. Forum for Affected Families, Mannar
45. Intellectual Forum, Trincomalee
46. Jesuit Priest in Sri Lanka
47. Kamakkara Organization
48. Land Back Initiative District Network – Ampara
49. Land Back Initiative District Network – Batticaloa
50. Land Back Initiative District Network – Trincomalee
51. Livestock Farmers’ Association – Batticaloa
52. Manitham Foundation – Trincomalee
53. Mannar Women’s Development Federation
54. North-East Social Movement (NESM)
55. People’s Collective for Climate Justice (PCCJ), Eastern Province
56. PPF, Ampara
57. Puzhuthi – Organization for Social Rights
58. Social Movement – Batticaloa
59. Social Movement – Trincomalee
60. Social Welfare Organization (S.W.O)
61. Tamil Social Activist Network
62. Thalam Organization
63. Trincomalee District Women’s Network (TDWN), Trincomalee
64. Uravukalin Thedal Organization – Batticaloa
65. War affected Peoples in North-East