ACCOUNTABILITY • ORIGINAL REVIEW • 20 SEPTEMBER 2026

Two years on, Sri Lanka's accountability record faces a harder test

The present administration came to office promising reform and accountability. Recent UN and Human Rights Watch assessments acknowledge movement in some cases while arguing that deeper legal and institutional change remains slow.

Human Rights Watch's September 2026 review says there has been limited progress in several emblematic investigations but little movement in other longstanding cases involving disappearances, killings and attacks on journalists. It also points to unfulfilled commitments including an independent public prosecutor and reform of legislation criticised by rights groups.

A separate News 1st report on the UN Human Rights Council update described a more mixed picture: the UN noted important progress in some high-profile criminal investigations, anti-corruption reforms and human-rights initiatives, while warning that the momentum for deeper legal and institutional reform appeared to be slowing.

Progress should be acknowledged — and tested

Serious accountability reporting should not erase progress simply because it complicates a critical narrative. Where investigations advance, indictments are filed or institutions improve, those developments should be recorded. The same standard requires scrutiny where promised reforms remain incomplete, cases stall or victims and witnesses continue to raise concerns.

The central question is therefore not whether the government is entirely succeeding or entirely failing. It is whether the measurable reforms match the mandate and promises on which it sought public trust.

Accountability is strongest when the same evidentiary standard applies to the current government, former governments, the security establishment and political opponents.

Lanka Witness will track individual commitments, published legal reforms, court developments and official responses rather than treating slogans or allegations as outcomes.