Human Rights Watch reported on Sunday that Sri Lankan authorities are repressing Hindus as well as other religious minorities, calling for a renewed UN resolution in an attempt to counter the oppressive actions of the government.

According to the report, authorities in Sri Lanka are denying Hindus and other religious minorities access to places of worship. Beginning under the leadership of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and now continued under President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the campaign is to redesignate Tamil Hindu temples as Buddhist sites. Despite Wickremesinghe’s assertions that he would address Tamil grievances, government agencies are denying access to Hindu and Muslim properties. The report cites incidents of the destruction of Hindu statues, the destruction of a Hindu shrine and land grabs in addition to threats against Hindu worshippers.

“[I]nternational pressure is needed to reverse this nefarious campaign, which promotes Sinhala Buddhist nationalism at the expense of other populations”, said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

It has been 15 years since the end of Sri Lanka’s nearly 30-year-long civil war, between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE sought an independent state for the island’s Tamil minority. In 2009, the government announced that it had defeated the LTTE and killed its leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran. Since then, authorities have increasingly engaged in repression of the right to freedom of religion, as well as surveillance of activist groups and the use of unnecessary force.

The Sri Lanka Accountability Project, established in 2021 under the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), reported a steady increase in requests from state authorities in various regions. However, the Sri Lankan government rejected this accountability mechanism. In a recent visit to the island nation, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, expressed concerns over the crackdowns on freedom of expression.

“We are further concerned about the crackdown on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. These are often carried out under multiple accusations without formal charge or evidence and [have] led to lives being lived in limbo. This must end”, said Callamard.

The current UN Human Rights Council mandate, which involves the gathering of evidence for potential future prosecutions relating to the war and the continual monitoring of human rights in the country, is due to expire in September. Human Rights Watch’s report calls for the mandate to be renewed. Ganguly said:

The Sri Lankan government’s deepening repression of minority communities will only end when there is genuine accountability for past war crimes and ongoing abuses … To reduce the risk of further violations, it is crucial that the UN Human Rights Council renews its mandate on Sri Lanka for another two years.