UN Human Rights Chief's Lanka visit

THE UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk was on an official visit to Sri Lanka last week. Unlike previous visits by high commissioners however, Turk faced a unique challenge - the victims of human rights violations did not believe his visit was necessary in this moment.

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When High Commissioners Navinethan Pillay and Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein visited Sri Lanka, protests against those visits were often associated with Sinhala Buddhist nationalists and Government goons. By contrast, Turk faced pushback from victims and their families in the formerly embattled north and east. Prior to his visit loved ones of disappeared Tamils in Mullaitivu staged protests questioning Turk’s bona fides in visiting Sri Lanka. It is also understood that over 100 civil society organisations had written to Turk urging him to at least postpone his visit until after September when there is greater clarity on the Sri Lanka accountability mechanism which the new NPP Government has outright rejected.

Concerns raised by civil society organisations were justified when Turk conducted what seemed more like a bilateral visit by a head of state rather than an official visit of the UN top envoy for Human Rights. Turk left Sri Lanka feeling hopeful, in stark contrast with Sri Lankan victims whose unending quest for justice and dignified peace has endured for decades. His final statement at the conclusion of the visit focused solely on reconciliation and truth-seeking, without making any strong calls for justice or accountability.