UN experts on Tuesday called for the government of Sri Lanka to take accountability for the deaths of humanitarian workers killed 20 years ago in the town of Muttur after successive international investigations have concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that members of Sri Lanka’s security forces were responsible for the killings, yet those responsible have still not been arrested.

In commenting on the need to ensure that the perpetrators do not escape from the long arm of the law, the UN experts stated:

Impunity for attacks on humanitarian personnel sends a devastating message. 2025 was the deadliest year on record for aid workers worldwide, with over 1,000 killed between 2023 and 2025. We cannot allow a lack of accountability in cases like Muttur to keep fuelling this trend. We urge the Government of Sri Lanka to immediately open, or reactivate, a prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigation into the Muttur massacre, provide comprehensive reparation to the victims’ families, and guarantee the protection of all those wishing to mark the 20th anniversary.

The call comes 20 years to the day since the August 4th, 2006 execution of 17 National Action Against Hunger (ACF) humanitarian workers. The ACF was the only international NGO still providing water, sanitation and hygiene services to the local population in the midst of intensifying hostilities between the Sri Lankan Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The experts stressed that the killing of these aid workers had direct and foreseeable consequences for the 325,000 displaced people in the area. The killings resulted in the disruption of food and water supply to the area, increasing the population’s exposure to unsafe drinking water, malnutrition and water-borne diseases.

The United Nations has condemned the recent increase in killings of humanitarian aid workers globally. According to the Aid Worker Security Database, aid worker deaths hit a record high in 2023, and that figure has been surpassed every year since. This worrying upward trend culminated in 2025, a year that marked the deadliest on record for the global humanitarian community with the loss of 712 lives.

The Sri Lankan Civil War started in 1983 and ended in 2009. The conflict spanned three decades and is estimated to have claimed between 70,000 and 100,000 lives. Despite attempts at reconciliation since the end of the civil war, it has been argued that the country remains deeply divided, with the Sri Lankan state cracking down on Tamils participating in remembrance activities.