An open letter to UNHRC: Take corrective action

To: The President of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)• The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)• The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG)• Member States of the United Nations Dear Respected Officials,We, the undersigned concerned citizens, legal scholars, and members of civil society in Sri Lanka and abroad, write to express our strongest objection to the continued reference to and reliance upon the so-called Darusman Report a document that lacks legal standing, was produced without proper authorization, and has since been used to undermine Sri Lanka's sovereignty, distort its history, and weaponize the United Nations' human rights mechanisms for political ends.

- Ranjith Soysa

Our Concerns

1. Lack of legal mandate and transparency

The Darusman Report was personally commissioned by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, without any formal mandate from the UN General Assembly or the UN Security Council. As such, it constitutes a private, extrajudicial, and unilateral inquiry, devoid of institutional legitimacy. Compiled using anonymous and unverifiable sources, the process denied the Government of Sri Lanka any opportunity to be notified, participate, respond to allegations, or cross-examine witnessesviolating the UN's own principles of natural justice and fairness. These omissions amount to serious breaches of the principles of natural justice, due process, and state sovereignty, and they violate key provisions of international law.

2. Violation of due process and fair hearing rights and the denial of the right to a fair hearing contradicts:

Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which guarantees the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent tribunal;

Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), affirming rights to a fair trial, to examine evidence, and to defend oneself.

3. Violation of State Sovereignty