On 23 June 2025, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk visited Sri Lanka, engaging with key stakeholders including the President, the Chief Justice, government officials, political leaders, and civil society groups. His visit came at a time of growing concern over the country’s deteriorating civic space and rights-restricting legislation. At a media conference in Colombo, the High Commissioner called for the repeal of the Online Safety Act (OSA), citing its vague and overly broad provisions that threaten freedom of expression and digital rights. He also urged the government to impose a moratorium on the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and to expedite the review and release of long-term detainees held under the law without due process.
The visit signaled heightened international scrutiny of Sri Lanka’s ongoing legal and human rights challenges, particularly the chilling effects of the OSA and PTA on free speech, association, and civic activism, and the urgent need for the government to take concrete legislative action and foster a more open and rights-respecting environment.
For civil society and the media, this moment presents an opportunity to reclaim space and legitimacy. The potential repeal of the OSA would be especially impactful in restoring media freedom, reducing state censorship, and enabling more robust investigative journalism and rights-based advocacy. These actors, long constrained by repressive legal tools and surveillance, would gain renewed authority to participate in democratic processes and public discourse.
As outlined in the preceding section, the continued enforcement of the PTA reflects a persistent and well-documented pattern of state resistance to legal and institutional reform in Sri Lanka. Over the years, numerous domestic and international stakeholders, including human rights advocates, civil society organizations, legal experts, and multilateral bodies such as the UNHRC have consistently called for the repeal or substantial reform of the PTA due to its incompatibility with international human rights norms.
Despite these sustained and repeated appeals, successive governments have failed to act despite undertaking to make meaningful legislative change. Instead, they have continued to invoke and enforce the PTA, often in response to peaceful dissent, journalistic activity, or civil society engagement, raising serious concerns regarding the suppression of fundamental freedoms. Notably, over the past year, several incidents have underscored this trend, including the detention of activists and protesters under the PTA during periods of civil unrest and public demonstrations.
The pattern is further reinforced by the fact that such enforcement has persisted even in the face of widespread domestic criticism and mounting international scrutiny. Rather than taking steps toward repeal or establishing an effective moratorium, authorities have maintained the use of the PTA as a tool of control, thereby perpetuating a cycle of rights violations with little to no accountability. This entrenched resistance to reform underscores the urgent need for stronger international mechanisms to monitor compliance and ensure that repeated calls for change are met with concrete, measurable action.