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MONETABRIEF –The UN human rights chief on Thursday welcomed Sri Lanka’s robust anti-corruption drive but urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to apply the same vigour to ending impunity for continuing rights abuses.

In its latest report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, High Commissioner Volker Turk noted that cases of torture and deaths in custody continued to be reported in Sri Lanka despite the change of administration.

“While it is encouraging that the Sri Lankan authorities have taken action to address corruption cases and some crimes linked to the post-war period, more needs to be done to end the long legacy of impunity in the country,” the rights chief said.

His report, covering October 2025 to July 2026, notes steps to tackle corruption, including high-profile arrests and investigations linked to political killings, enforced disappearances and the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

He said it had been a difficult period for Mr Dissanayake’s new government, following the devastating Cyclone Ditwah which killed some 650 people and devastated much of the island and a global spike in energy prices.

The report noted that the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had documented 602 cases of torture and ill-treatment in 2025 and 138 cases by April 2026.