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STORY: OHCHR / GAZA SITUATION
TRT: 02:15
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 26 JUNE 2025, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA / FILE
FILE - UN HEADQUARTERS
1. Close up, United Nations flag
26 JUNE 2025, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“I heard heartbreaking testimonies of survivors and victims of human rights abuses. My visit yesterday to the recently re-opened mass grave at Chemmani was a compelling reminder that the past haunts the lives of many in Sri Lanka.”
FILE - UN HEADQUARTERS
3. Close up, United Nations flag
26 JUNE 2025, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“Victims’ groups continue to advocate for truth and justice for their missing, for their loved ones. And I heard from many mothers during my visit to Jaffna and Trincomalee, as well as victims of enforced disappearances in the south.”
FILE - UN HEADQUARTERS
5. Close up, United Nations flag
26 JUNE 2025, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“I am encouraged that there is a growing space for memorialization of victims – as I saw in Jaffna yesterday for example – but I also heard that despite this change, the same old patterns of surveillance of human right defenders persists.”
FILE - UN HEADQUARTERS
7. Close up, United Nations flag
26 JUNE 2025, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The legacy of the past presents a daunting challenge for the new Government. I have followed and been encouraged by the speeches of the President over the past few months in which he has publicly recognised the shared pain and grief of individuals from all communities. It is important to build on this momentum and to translate it into tangible results so that the truth of what happened to loved ones is unearthed.”
FILE - UN HEADQUARTERS
9. Close up, United Nations flag
26 JUNE 2025, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations:
“The new Government has set a fundamental goal of national unity. Quick wins and confidence-building measures are key to enhancing trust and reconciliation. And my Office remains ready to assist and provide assistance in this regard.”
FILE - UN HEADQUARTERS
11. Close up, United Nations flag
Wrapping up a 3-day visit to Sri Lanka, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today (26 Jun) told reporters that “the legacy of the past presents a daunting challenge for the new Government,” and said his Office “remains ready to assist and provide assistance.”
Türk, who visited the recently re-opened mass grave at Chemmani, said he had “heard heartbreaking testimonies of survivors and victims of human rights abuses,’ adding that his visit “was a compelling reminder that the past haunts the lives of many in Sri Lanka.”
He said, “victims’ groups continue to advocate for truth and justice for their missing, for their loved ones,” and noted that he had “heard from many mothers during my visit to Jaffna and Trincomalee, as well as victims of enforced disappearances in the south.”
The High Commissioner said he was “encouraged that there is a growing space for memorialization of victims,” but had also heard that “despite this change, the same old patterns of surveillance of human right defenders persists.”
While in Sri Lanka, he met with President Dissanayake and Prime Minister Amarasuriya, the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, and other officials, as well as with civil society representatives and survivors of human rights abuses and of course the UN team.
He said he was “encouraged by the speeches of the President over the past few months in which he has publicly recognised the shared pain and grief of individuals from all communities,” and added that it was “important to build on this momentum and to translate it into tangible results so that the truth of what happened to loved ones is unearthed.”
The new Government, Türk told reporters, “has set a fundamental goal of national unity.”
He stressed that “quick wins and confidence-building measures are key to enhancing trust and reconciliation.”
