NPC urges Sri Lanka to turn improved stability into lasting peace
COLOMBO: The National Peace Council (NPC) has called on the Sri Lankan government to translate the country’s improved stability into lasting peace by strengthening accountability, protecting civic freedoms and addressing unresolved grievances linked to the conflict.
In a statement marking International Day of Peace 2026, NPC said Sri Lanka had made significant progress towards peace but warned that stability alone was insufficient without human rights, equality, justice and reconciliation.
Citing the 2026 Global Peace Index, the organisation said Sri Lanka had risen from 97th to 67th place among 163 countries and recorded the largest percentage improvement in South Asia.
However, NPC said the country continued to face serious challenges involving accountability for past violations, arbitrary arrest and detention, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, allegations of torture and deaths in custody, and the surveillance and intimidation of civil society activists and journalists.
Referring to the latest report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, NPC said that while positive developments, including measures against corruption, had been recognised, concerns remained over the lack of progress in resolving serious human rights cases.
The organisation called on the government to strengthen forensic and prosecutorial capacity and publicly report progress in investigations into missing persons and mass graves.
NPC also highlighted the long-running grazing land dispute at Mylathamadu-Mathavanai in Batticaloa, saying the failure to resolve the issue despite court orders and presidential directives demonstrated a gap between government commitments and implementation. It urged the authorities to intervene immediately and find an equitable solution.
The organisation also expressed concern over proposed legislation governing non-governmental organisations, warning that sweeping state oversight could undermine independent civil society.
It says that ” The government’s approach to civic space is also increasingly concerning. The proposed new NGO law, currently under discussion, contains sweeping provisions for State oversight and control of civil society organisations. Civil society organisations have raised concerns that the legislation could give the authorities excessive discretion over registration and operations. Past experience shows how state officials have violated many principles of democracy and more power may actually promote such in the future too as a human tendency is to abuse power unless it is checked and balanced. A government committed to democracy and good governance should welcome independent civil society, including organisations that scrutinise government policy, expose abuses and advocate for citizens’ rights. Regulation and financial accountability are legitimate objectives, but they must not become instruments for restricting criticism or controlling independent organisations.”
While acknowledging that regulation and financial accountability were legitimate objectives, NPC said such measures should not be used to restrict criticism or control organisations that scrutinise government policies, expose abuses or advocate for citizens’ rights.
“Peace cannot be sustained if the state uses war time and restrictive laws against its own citizens or leaves victims waiting decades for truth and justice,” NPC said.
It said families searching for information about disappeared relatives had waited for decades and argued that institutions and commissions could not indefinitely substitute for effective investigations, prosecutions and reparations.
Marking this year’s International Day of Peace under the theme “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day,” NPC said Sri Lanka’s improved position in the Global Peace Index should be welcomed but should not be regarded as proof that the country’s peacebuilding process was complete.
Lasting peace, it said, would ultimately depend on whether the government protected the rights, freedoms and dignity of all citizens, irrespective of geographic or ethnic boundaries, and matched its commitments with concrete action.