ITAK welcomes UN update on Tamil issues but says government has delivered little in two years

The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) has welcomed the UN human rights office’s written update on Sri Lanka while saying the government has taken no meaningful steps on the issues that matter most to Tamil people, in a statement dated 8 September 2026 from General Secretary M.A. Sumanthiran, Hiru News reported.

The statement responds to the update presented at the opening of the Human Rights Council session in Geneva. The written update is the High Commissioner’s; it was delivered to the Council by Deputy High Commissioner Awa Dabo rather than by Volker Türk.

What ITAK welcomed

The party said it welcomed the update insofar as it recorded a lack of progress on accountability for wartime abuses and on related matters affecting Tamils — specifically the release of military-occupied land, enforced disappearances, the release of political prisoners, and the Chemmani mass grave.

It also noted the update’s reference to provincial council elections, which have not been held for a long time, and welcomed government action against bribery and corruption and drug-related underworld activity.

That second point is notable: it credits the administration on the same anti-corruption record the UN update itself commended, rather than dismissing the update’s positive findings.

Where it faults the government

ITAK expressed deep disappointment at the absence of meaningful steps on Tamil issues after almost two years in office. The National People’s Power government took office in September 2024, which places the statement close to the second anniversary.

The party urged the government to deliver on its election promises — “crucially”, it said, the pledge to introduce a new constitution addressing the historic aspirations of the Tamil people.

Context

The specific grievances track long-running threads. Exhumations at Chemmani in Jaffna have recovered hundreds of skeletal remains across successive phases. Provincial councils have gone without elections for around a decade, with a parliamentary select committee still working through the legal obstacles.

Ada Derana also reported the ITAK statement. Its site was returning a CloudFront block at the time of writing and the report could not be verified directly, so it is not cited here.

Sources: Hiru News.