Geneva, A new report from the UN Human Rights Office is calling on the Sri Lankan government to take decisive action to clarify the fates of tens of thousands of people who have been subjected to enforced disappearances over the past decades and to hold those responsible accountable. The report, released today, emphasizes the need for Sri Lanka to acknowledge the role of state security forces and affiliated paramilitary groups in these disappearances, and to issue a public apology.

According to Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, despite Sri Lanka’s formal steps towards addressing human rights violations, such as ratifying international conventions and establishing commissions, actual progress on resolving these cases remains scant. The report documents the extensive use of enforced disappearances by Sri Lankan security forces and affiliated groups from the 1970s through 2009, with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam also implicated in abductions described by the UN as “tantamount to enforced disappearances.”

The impact on families, particularly on women who have often had to become the sole earners while facing significant barriers and risks in the workforce, is a focal point of the report. It also highlights the harassment and violence faced by women who have actively sought information about the disappeared. The ongoing violations demand a robust response from the state to fulfill its international obligations to resolve these cases, the report concludes.