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1. Executive Summary
Freedom of the Press: A coalition of 141 civil society organisations and activists condemned the ongoing surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of Mullaitivu-based journalist Kumanan Kanapathipillai. Célia Mercier, Head of the RSF South Asia Desk, emphasized: “This is an extremely serious attack on a reporter who has already been targeted on many occasions for his work. The new baseless accusations illustrate the authorities’ repeated attempts to silence critical voices and criminalise independent journalism in Sri Lanka’s Tamil regions. There is an urgent need to end these repeated attacks on press freedom.”
Freedom of Assembly and Association: The former president and secretary of the Vedukkunaari Malai Aathi Shivan Temple in Vavuniya, Sasikumar and Tamilchelvan, were summoned by the Police to provide statements. Both men were previously arrested and remanded on the day of Maha Shivaratri last year.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad has launched an investigation into Dharmalingam Suresh, the national organiser of the Tamil National People’s Front, who was summoned to the Counter Terrorism Division in Colombo and questioned for more than five hours.
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Accountability: At the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Sixtieth Session, Resolution A/HRC/60/L.1/Rev.1, titled “Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka,” was adopted without a vote, extending the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for two more years.
The rotating hunger strike organized by the Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappeared Persons in the North and East. Jaffna, Northern Province. 1st October 2025. Photo Courtesy: Tamil Guardian
Against this background, the Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappeared Persons in the North and East organised a rotating hunger strike in Jaffna, Semmani, and the Eastern Province.
The Chemmani mass grave case was recently taken up before the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court and adjourned due to a lack of funds required for the next phase of excavation. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) stressed that investigative agencies should not wait for courts to initiate excavation orders but must instead conduct preliminary investigations and seek court approval based on established facts, noting that courts act only upon formal requests and do not initiate such actions themselves.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Province Association for the Relatives of the Forced Disappeared criticized the international community and the United Nations for failing to pursue an international investigation.
Police Misconduct: Homagama High Court Judge Navaratna Marasinghe sentenced a former Borella police officer to fourteen years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl. The court ruled that the officer had gravely violated the trust placed in him by both the Police Department and society.
In the North, tensions between the legal community and police intensified after officers allegedly entered and searched the home of a female lawyer in Jaffna without a court warrant.
Public outrage also grew following the circulation of a video showing a doctor and an engineer being questioned at the Panadura Police Station, reportedly recorded without their consent. Senior lawyer Thishya Weragoda condemned the act as a ‘ghost-like interrogation’ and a serious violation of privacy, asserting that it contradicted earlier commitments by senior police officials to uphold the Personal Data Protection Act during investigations.
Legal experts have criticized the growing trend of police sharing videos of suspects with the media and on social platforms. Former Bar Association President Saliya Pieris PC described such practices as ‘childish acts’ that undermine investigations and compromise identification parades under Section 124 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act.
In Vithanage Sunil v. Police Officers (SC FR No. 259/2016), six officers, including the former Officer-in-Charge of the Kottawa Police Station, were found guilty of violating Articles 11, 12(1), and 13(1) of the Constitution by unlawfully arresting, assaulting, and humiliating a bus operator in July 2016. Similarly, in Thilina Rajapaksha v. Police Officers (SC FR No. 90/2021), the Supreme Court ruled that three officers from the Alawwa Police Station had violated the fundamental rights of journalist Thilina Rajapaksha, who was assaulted and unlawfully detained in 2021. The court ordered the officers to personally pay Rs. 75,000 in compensation and directed the Attorney General to initiate a criminal investigation into their conduct.
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Prisoners’ Rights: Commissioner of Prisons and Media Spokesman Jagath Weerasinghe revealed that Sri Lanka’s 36 prisons, built for 10,500 inmates, currently house over 36,000. The overcrowding, he said, could soon exceed 40,000 prisoners, including children living with their mothers, and highlighted the alarming spread of toxic drug combinations. He urged political authorities to sentence major drug offenders to death.
| “Those who bring drugs into the country on a large scale are destroying the entire nation. They must be hanged. There is nothing sinful about it.” Commissioner of Prisons and Media Spokesman Jagath Weerasinghe |
The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has issued a circular instructing Magistrates to refrain from issuing orders that grant special detention arrangements or special protection to suspects or prisoners. The circular specifies that Magistrates should not order suspects or prisoners to be detained in special prisons or to be given any special protection. Requests made in open court for such protection should be referred to the relevant prison superintendent.
Malayaga Community: Residents of the Malayaga community from a southern small-holder plantation in the Galle District are facing the threat of eviction as landowners intend to sell the land, even as authorities claim no legal intervention can be made due to the land’s private ownership. With nowhere else to go, these Malayaga people continue to live without legal claim to the land they have occupied for generations.
LGBTQI+ Community: In the wake of controversy surrounding the alleged promotion of LGBTIQ+ tourism in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya told Parliament that the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairman had issued a letter on the subject without consulting the political authority. She clarified that the government’s policy was not to promote or grant special privileges to any particular group, and emphasized that sensitive issues should not be used for political mileage.
Legal Reforms: President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasized the need to ensure their safety, access to education, proper nutrition, healthcare, and protection from abuse, discrimination, and all forms of violence, including special attention to children with developmental challenges such as autism. Yet, in discussions around the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill banning corporal punishment, he stated that laws should not be enacted if the public does not agree, implying that the government may not push forward a law even if it strengthens children’s rights.
The government is pressing ahead with its presidential election promise to establish an Independent Prosecutor Office (IPO), despite protests from the opposition and certain civil society organizations.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to sign the United Nations Convention against Cybercrimes (UNCC). The convention aims to enhance Sri Lanka’s ability to prevent and respond to cybercrimes, strengthen cooperation, recover assets, protect witnesses and victims, and improve technological capacity.
Land Rights: More than 352 farming families from the Trincomalee Pattinamum Kukulum area remain in distress after losing their agricultural lands, which they had cultivated since 1972. The Ports Authority had claimed ownership of the lands and ordered the farmers to vacate by 2023. Despite over five decades of agricultural activity, approximately 800 acres of farmland have been confiscated, with more than 200 acres allocated to private companies for solar power projects.
Minister of Environment, Dammika Patabendi, announced that 101,762.75 acres of land across the Vanni region will be released from state control. He claimed that past governments had mistakenly absorbed villages, farms, schools, and hospitals into forest reserves due to GPS mapping errors. The lands—22,804.40 acres in Vavuniya, 17,782.8 acres in Mannar, and 48,532.6 acres in Mullaitivu—are to be released as part of a cabinet decision.
Environmental Rights: The Mannar Wind Power Project, promoted by the government as a cornerstone of its renewable energy transition, has become the centre of an environmental, social, and political conflict, exposing tensions between development goals and the rights of marginalised communities. For over 60–70 days, residents of Mannar Island have sustained peaceful protests against the project, alleging that it has proceeded without transparency, adequate consultation, or community consent, and that police have used force to suppress dissent, injuring activists and criminalising democratic protests.Despite mounting opposition, the government maintains that the project is essential for energy security, climate commitments, and economic stability.
Other: HRCSL has directed the Sri Lanka Customs to submit its report on a complaint of ‘unlawful and illegal detention of a consignment of Holy Quran (Tamil) in violation of fundamental rights’ received by the HRCSL. The complaint filed with HRCSL by an Attorney-at-Law, on behalf of the Sri Lankan Muslims, alleges that the rights guaranteed under Chapter III of the Constitution have been violated by the Sri Lanka Customs, allegedly acting on the ‘interference of a former secretary of the Defence Ministry, purporting to act on behalf of the then government’. The complaint alleges that the illegal detention of the Holy Quran “unfairly targets the Muslim minority and sets a dangerous precedent of state interference in religious texts”.
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