Heartbreaking to see people seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza risking their lives: U.N. human rights chief
Mr. Türk made the remarks in a media conference in Colombo, where he delivered a statement at the conclusion of his mission to Sri Lanka from June 23 to 26. 'As of 25th of June, we have 598 reportedly killed in total as a result of them trying to access aid, at distribution points installed within Gaza. I have to say it is really, extremely distressing to see that militarised humanitarian assistance schemes have emerged, they are not a response,' he said.
'Momentum for change'
On Sri Lanka, High Commissioner Türk said he felt 'a real momentum for change' and 'a genuine openness to address complex issues' of the past. He also felt 'encouraged' by recent speeches of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, publicly recognising the shared pain and grief of individuals from all communities.
#SriLanka: @volker_turk today visited Chemmani mass grave site near Jaffna and met families of disappeared. Investigation must be impartial and thorough in line with international standards. Dozens of mass grave sites have been discovered throughout country. pic.twitter.com/8vNGOQqaGG — UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) June 25, 2025
'My visit yesterday to the recently re-opened mass grave at Chemmani [near Jaffna in the Northern Province] was a compelling reminder that the past haunts the lives of many in Sri Lanka… At the site I had a chance to meet a family who are still searching and still grieving for a loved one; they hope that his remains may be unearthed there even after all these years,' he said, highlighting the trauma of scores of families looking for their disappeared loved ones. A statement issued by the President's office following a meeting with the visiting UN official on Thursday said President Dissanayake told him that his administration had 'a deep understanding of their pain', coming from a political movement that directly faced the issue.
#SriLanka: The legacy of the past, and the difficult economic challenges, are daunting. But in a world where wars, economic uncertainty & human rights violations are sadly becoming the norm, Sri Lanka can become a story of hope. – @volker_turk, at the end of his visit to Sri… pic.twitter.com/gDmFVLHnxf — UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) June 26, 2025
While pointing to 'a growing space for memorialisation of victims' in Sri Lanka in his statement, the High Commissioner also highlighted 'same old patterns' of surveillance of human right defenders that persist. Observing that Sri Lanka has 'struggled' to move forward with domestic accountability mechanisms that victims trust, he said that is why Sri Lankans have looked outside for justice. 'Ultimately it is the State's responsibility, and it is important that this process is nationally owned – and it can be complemented and supported by international means,' he said. President Dissanayake's government has rejected the UN Human Rights Council's latest Sri Lanka resolution and any internationally backed evidence gathering mechanism but has promised to strengthen the credibility of domestic mechanisms.
Further, the UN human rights chief called for the repeal of Sri Lanka's draconian anti-terror legislation, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and a moratorium on its use, and the repeal of the Online Safety Act that rights defenders fiercely oppose.
Economic rights
Referring to the 'enormous' impact of Sri Lanka's economic crisis in 2022, High Commissioner Mr. Türk said human rights need to look at economic issues as well. 'We don't only have civil and political rights, we also have Economic Social Cultural Rights, they are very often the backbone of economic systems, of fiscal decisions taken.'
Welcoming the government's steps to address corruption he said following the historic people's uprising of 2022, Sri Lanka has an opportunity to transition to a 'human rights economy' – 'one that looks beyond economics, and focuses on the main causes of societal problems, and addresses issues such as inequality, injustice and unsustainable practices'.
Austerity measures are rarely looked at from the perspective of human rights, he said, suggesting that a discussion on it was necessary to address the inequities within the International Financial Architecture. Referring to the 'extreme hardship' faced by those working on plantations, Mr. Türk said meeting their needs, including access to land, housing and improved wages, was crucial.
The High Commissioner said he was leaving the island with hope over the 'palpable desire' in government and civil society to 'draw a line under the entrenched identity politics' of ethnicity, religion, language, culture, caste and class'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
a day ago
- Mint
Iran suspends cooperation with UN atomic agency
Iran said it was suspending cooperation with the U.N. atomic agency, denying international inspectors the chance to assess the damage done by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on its main nuclear sites and setting up a new clash with Washington and other Western powers. Iran's move will leave the International Atomic Energy Agency blind for now to any renewed nuclear work that Tehran is able to do and unable to verify the whereabouts of its large stockpile of already enriched uranium. President Masoud Pezeshkian has formally adopted the implementation of a law to suspend cooperation that Iran's parliament ratified last week, Iranian state media said Wednesday. The suspension is effective until various conditions are met, including guarantees for the safety of Iranian nuclear sites and scientists. The decision could further complicate any resumption of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S. President Trump has said Washington is open to talks. Iran wants a pledge by Washington not to engage in fresh military strikes before it considers renewing the talks. A spokesman for the IAEA said it was aware of the reports but 'awaiting further official information from Iran" on its decision to suspend cooperation. The agency still has a team of inspectors in Iran that has been unable to carry out its work since Israel attacked Iran on June 13. Trump announced a cease-fire between Israel and Iran last week after 12 days of war during which the U.S. and Israel struck Iran's main nuclear sites, including dropping bunker-buster bombs on the Fordow enrichment site. Western intelligence agencies are still examining the extent of damage to Iran's nuclear sites and facilities, which Trump has said the U.S. and Israeli strikes had obliterated. Tehran has started doing work to regain access to the Fordow facility, buried deep underneath a mountain. In an interview with CBS News, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the extent of the damage at Fordow 'is very extensive and very serious." Iran's Natanz enrichment site was also badly damaged, according to the IAEA and U.S. officials, as was its nuclear complex at Isfahan. There have been growing calls from Western countries for Iran not to shut off access to inspectors. Iran is a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which obliges it to accept IAEA inspections. Group of Seven foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warned that for any diplomatic resolution of the nuclear crisis, Iran must provide the Vienna agency 'with verifiable information about all nuclear material in Iran, including by providing access to IAEA inspectors." Following news of Iran's decision, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called on European countries to immediately snap back all international sanctions against Iran, lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran has warned any such step could see them leave the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a step no nation apart from North Korea has ever taken. 'The international community must act decisively now and utilize all means at its disposal to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions," Sa'ar said on X. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has suggested that Iran could swiftly find itself the subject of fresh action by the board of member states if it doesn't cooperate with the agency. During the conflict, Grossi said it was urgent for inspectors to get access to the bombed enrichment sites to assess the damage and ensure their safety. A second priority was the whereabouts and status of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, particularly the more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, enough to fuel 10 nuclear weapons. If that stockpile is intact and unaccounted for, experts warn it could be used in a covert enrichment site to develop weapons-grade fuel. Grossi has said Iran could start enriching uranium again within months. Iran has accused Grossi of prompting the Israeli attacks by issuing a comprehensive report in late May, which laid out Iran's lack of cooperation with the IAEA during a six-year probe into undeclared nuclear material found in Iran. It has also accused him of not condemning the U.S. and Israeli attacks. There have been death threats against him from some Iranian lawmakers and regime-affiliated media. Grossi's report was ordered by the European powers. He repeatedly stated that the Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities were against international law. Araghchi has refused, for now, to meet with him to discuss resuming inspections. Write to Laurence Norman at
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Quad calls for punishing perpetrators of Pahalgam attack
The Quad grouping has called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to justice without any delay and urged U.N. member nations to extend cooperation for it. The Foreign Ministers of the four-nation grouping condemned the April 22 attack in the strongest terms that claimed the lives of 26 civilians and firmly pitched for action against cross-border terrorism. In a joint statement, the Ministers, however, did not mention Pakistan or the four-day military conflict between the Indian and Pakistani militaries in May. The meeting at the U.S. capital city on Tuesday (July 1, 2025) was attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya. The Quad Foreign Ministers condemned "in the strongest terms" the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, that claimed the lives of 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen, while injuring several others. "We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and extend our heartfelt wishes for a swift and full recovery to all those injured," they said. "We call for the perpetrators, organisers, and financiers of this reprehensible act to be brought to justice without any delay and urge all UN Member States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard," they added. The Quad meeting also announced the grouping's plan to launch a Quad Ports of the Future partnership in Mumbai this year. The Ministers said they remained seriously concerned about the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. "We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion," they said, referring to Chinese military actions.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
Pahalgam attack was act of economic warfare, says External Affairs Minister Jaishankar
The Pahalgam terror attack was an act of economic warfare meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, asserting that India has made it clear that it will not allow nuclear blackmail to prevent it from responding to terror emanating from Pakistan. India has had a string of terrorist attacks over the years emanating from Pakistan and in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, there was a sentiment in the country that 'enough is enough,' Mr. Jaishankar said on Monday (June 30, 3035). His remarks came during a conversation with Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad hosted at the publication's headquarters at One World Trade Centre near the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan. Mr. Jaishankar said that the Pahalgam attack 'was an act of economic warfare. It was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, which was the mainstay of the economy. It was also meant to provoke religious violence because people were asked to identify their faith before they were killed.' 'So we decided that we cannot let terrorists function with impunity. The idea that they are on that side of the border, and that, therefore, sort of prevents retribution, I think, that's a proposition that needs to be challenged and that is what we did,' he said. Mr. Jaishankar is on an official visit to the U.S. and will travel to Washington DC to participate in the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Tuesday (July 1, 2025). He commenced his visit by inaugurating an exhibition in the U.N. Headquarters titled 'The Human Cost of Terrorism', organised by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN. He said that the terrorists based in Pakistan carrying out attacks against India do not operate in secret and these are terrorist organisations who have the 'equivalent of their corporate headquarters in the populated towns of Pakistan." "Everybody knows what is the headquarters of organisation A and organisation B and those are the buildings, the headquarters that India destroyed' in Operation Sindoor, he said. Operation Sindoor was launched to target terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians and for which The Resistance Front (TRF), a front for Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had claimed responsibility. "We are very clear there will be no impunity for terrorists, that we will not deal with them any longer as proxies and spare the government which supports and finances and in many ways, motivates them. We will not allow nuclear blackmail to prevent us from responding,' he said. Mr. Jaishankar added that 'we've also heard this for too long' that both India and Pakistan are nuclear countries and 'therefore the other guy will come and do horrible things, but you mustn't do anything because it gets the world worried. 'Now we are not going to fall for that. If he is going to come and do things, we are going to go there and also hit the people who did this. So no yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists, no more free pass that they are proxies. And we will do what we have to do to defend our people,' Jaishankar said amid applause from the audience. Referring to the exhibition at the U.N. highlighting the devastating toll of terrorist attacks across the globe, including those perpetrated by Pakistan-based terror entities, Jaishankar said India believes that 'terrorism is actually a threat to everyone, that no country should use it as an instrument to further its policies because, at the end of the day, it comes back to bite everyone.' He stressed that the message to the world has to be that there should be zero tolerance for terrorism, that there should be no circumstances, no excuse, no justification under which a country would allow, support, finance or sponsor terrorist acts. He said India has been dealing with terrorism emanating from Pakistan for several decades but it actually started from the time of the country's independence in 1947 when within a few months, terrorists were sent into Kashmir and were described as proxies and tribal invaders. 'And then soon enough, the Pakistani Army followed. So we have battled terrorism, really intensive, for the last four decades and we've had some horrific cases,' he said, as he referred to the 2001 Parliament and 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. During a Q&A session that followed the conversation, Mr. Jaishankar was asked about President Donald Trump's claim that he used trade to stop the recent conflict between India and Pakistan and whether that has affected trade negotiations between Delhi and Washington. 'No, I don't think so. I think the trade people are doing what the trade people should be doing, which is negotiate with numbers and lines and products and do their trade-offs. I think they are very professional and very, very focused about it,' Mr. Jaishankar said. He said that there is a national consensus in India that 'our dealings with Pakistan are bilateral. 'And in this particular case, I can tell you that I was in the room when Vice President (JD) Vance spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India if we did not accept certain things. 'And the Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do. On the contrary, he indicated that there would be a response from us. This was the night before and the Pakistanis did attack us massively that night, we responded very quickly thereafter,' Mr. Jaishankar said. "And the next morning, Mr (Secretary of State Marco) Rubio called me up and said the Pakistanis were ready to talk. So I can only tell you from my personal experience what happened. The rest I leave to you," he said.
