Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice (SLC) British Tamils Forum (BTF) Joint Statement
No Sri Lankan military deployment to Haiti until there is credible accountability, independent vetting and justice for victims
The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice (SLC) and the British Tamils Forum (BTF) are deeply alarmed by reports that Sri Lanka may once again deploy troops to Haiti, this time under the United Nations (UN)-backed Gang Suppression Force.
Our distress heightened when Sri Lankan Army, in its official statement on 16 April 2026, announced that a Gang Suppression Force Pre Deployment Training Course for Haiti had been concluded on 10 April 2026. Tamil Guardian too under its heading UN moves to redeploy scandal-hit Sri Lankan troops to Haiti raised its concern on 18 April 2026. On 23 April 2026, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that seniorSri Lankan officials had held meetings at UN Headquarters in New York in connection with ongoing MoU negotiations for the proposed deployment.
We condemn the authorities’ decision to deploy Sri Lanka military to Haiti under the UN backed Gang Suppression Force for reasons provided below and would urge the UN and its Member States to act now, before this deployment is finalised, because once troops are deployed, the political and institutional pressure to defend the decision will be far greater. We would also urge that the UN must not repeat the same mistake it made in the past and subsequently was warned for years.
Our concerns are not theoretical. According to an Associated Press investigation based on an internal UN report, at least 134 Sri Lankan peacekeepers exploited 9 Haitian children in a sex ring between 2004 and 2007. Following that report, 114 peacekeepers were sent home. None was ever imprisoned. A later Associated Press report stated that Sri Lanka had never prosecuted a single soldier for sexual assault or sexual misconduct while serving in a peacekeeping mission abroad.
That history alone should make any return of Sri Lankan military personnel to Haiti unacceptable unless and until there is full, transparent and independent accountability. Haiti should not be asked to accept troops from a military whose previous personnel were implicated in grave abuse of Haitian children and where the victims have still not received justice.
The proposed deployment is especially dangerous because the Gang Suppression Force is not a symbolic or low risk mission. The UN Security Council has authorised a 5,550 member international force for Haiti with expanded powers, including the power to arrest suspected gang members and conduct targeted operations. A force with such powers must be held to the highest possible human rights and accountability standards.
The wider record of the Sri Lankan security forces remains deeply troubling. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Investigation on Sri Lanka found “reasonable grounds” to believe that enforced disappearances may have been committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population. It also found reasonable grounds to believe that torture by Sri Lankan security forces was committed on a widespread scale, and that rape and sexual violence by security forces personnel was widespread against both men and women. The same report stated that sexual violence related violations by the security forces may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
These findings have not been overtaken by meaningful reform. In its 2025 report on Sri Lanka, OHCHR’s discontent suggests that Sri Lanka has not completed the security sector reform necessary to justify renewed international deployment of its troops. On the contrary, it (para 25) states that “sixteen years after the end of the war, meaningful and comprehensive security sector reform is yet to take place.” It refers to continuing surveillance, intimidation and harassment in the north and east, including reports involving military and civilian intelligence officials, and calls for the release of military held lands, a significant reduction of the military presence in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, and an end to military involvement in law enforcement, commercial activities and civil affairs.
In its January 2026 report, the UN Office also stated that conflict-related sexual violence sexual violence committed during and after the armed conflict was not a series of isolated incidents, but formed part of a widespread and systemic pattern of violations. The report states that these violations were institutionally enabled and disproportionately targeted conflict affected communities, and that successive Sri Lankan governments have failed to adequately investigate or prosecute cases of conflict-related sexual violence. It also notes that entrenched impunity persists and that survivors continue to be largely denied justice.
The UN has already recognised the seriousness of these concerns. In 2019, the UN Department of Peace Operations suspended future Sri Lankan Army deployments, except where suspension would expose UN operations to serious operational risk, after the appointment of Shavendra Silva as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army despite well-documented and credible allegations of his involvement in serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
The UN cannot now quietly reverse that position without explaining what has changed. There has been no credible accountability for wartime abuses in Sri Lanka. There has been no credible accountability for the abuse of Haitian children by Sri Lankan peacekeepers. There has been no demonstrated transformation of the Sri Lankan military sufficient to justify its return to Haiti.
In 2012, the UN introduced a Screening Policy which requires countries contributing troops to have a more systematic approach to vetting personnel before sending them on UN peacekeeping missions. For some time, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) was tasked with vetting any Sri Lankan Army personnel designated to go on peacekeeping duties. In April 2018, however, the then government deployed 49 Sri Lanka Army personnel to Lebanon without seeking HRCSL clearance. The HRCSL has now phased out its involvement in that special domestic screening process. The report states that, in June 2024, the HRCSL decided to phase out its role and informed the UN Department of Peace Operations, the UN Resident Coordinator in Colombo and OHCHR.
Countries aspiring to have citizens serve in UN peacekeeping missions need to improve their human rights records by instigating thorough vetting procedures. We note that Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence in April 2026 has referred to a proposed National Human Rights Vetting Mechanism for troops deploying to UN field missions. However, the same statement makes clear that this mechanism is still being developed. A future or partially developed domestic vetting mechanism cannot be treated as a substitute for independent, transparent and credible screening by the UN, with full involvement of OHCHR and appropriate consultation with victims, survivors and civil society.
The UN’s own Human Rights Due Diligence Policy requires UN entities to ensure that support provided to non-UN security forces is consistent with the UN Charter and with the UN’s responsibility to respect, promote and encourage respect for international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law. That policy cannot be satisfied by relying on assurances from a security establishment that remains the subject of serious unresolved allegations.
We therefore call on the UN, its Department of Peace Operations, Department of Operational Support, OHCHR, the UN Support Office in Haiti, Security Council Member States and all governments involved in the Haiti mission to immediately take the following steps:
-Suspend any Sri Lankan military deployment to Haiti unless and until there is a public, independent and credible assessment showing that the deployment presents no risk to Haitian civilians.
-Publish clear information on the proposed deployment, including the status of negotiations, the units proposed for deployment, the chain of command, the vetting process used and the role of OHCHR in that process.
-Ensure that no person or unit credibly implicated in serious human rights violations, atrocity crimes, torture, sexual violence, enforced disappearance or abuse in Sri Lanka or during previous UN deployments is permitted to serve in Haiti.
-Ensure that the screening process is not based on Sri Lankan Government self certification. It must include independent review of UN reports, OHCHR findings, civil society documentation, survivor testimony and credible NGO evidence.
-Publish full details of the current vetting arrangement for Sri Lankan personnel proposed for Haiti, including whether the previous HRCSL led process has been replaced, whether HRCSL has any continuing role, whether OHCHR is directly involved, and whether any Haiti bound personnel have been cleared under a process that was fully operational before the deployment was negotiated.
-Ensure justice, truth and reparations for Haitian victims of abuse by Sri Lankan peacekeepers before any consideration is given to a renewed Sri Lankan deployment to Haiti.
-Consult Haitian civil society and survivor-centred organisations before accepting any troop contribution from Sri Lanka. Haiti’s communities must not be treated as a testing ground for unreformed and unaccountable security forces.
The UN’s credibility is at stake. Haiti’s people deserve protection, not the return of forces linked to past abuse and impunity. Sri Lanka’s victims deserve justice, not the international rehabilitation of the very institutions they continue to fear.
No Sri Lankan soldier should serve under a UN-backed mandate while serious allegations against the Sri Lankan military remain unaddressed and while victims in Sri Lanka and Haiti are still waiting for justice.
SLC and BTF have sent the following related letter to UN bodies and are awaiting a response: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n5Ne5CWrhZjmivJkMG7k8jtNlVnirQbt/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=100029821432089885884&rtpof=true&sd=true
