A/HRC/44/50/Add.1 Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; and other related United Nations resolutions and guidelines. II. Context A. Background 8. Sri Lanka is an island country in the Indian Ocean. It has nine provinces, which are administratively divided into 25 districts, and further divided into 256 divisions. 9. The country gained its independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1948. A system of administration through provincial councils was introduced in 1987. Legislative power is exercised by Parliament, elected by universal franchise on a proportional representation basis. Executive power, including defence, is exercised by the President, who is also elected by the people. 10. Under British rule, tensions grew between Tamil and Sinhalese communities. These tensions worsened after independence, owing to the predominantly Sinhala governance structures, leading eventually to the outbreak of an armed conflict between the Government and the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1983. 11. The protracted armed conflict continued for 26 years, despite a ceasefire, which was largely held between 2002 and 2006, with the Government claiming victory in 2009 over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. During the conflict, hundreds of thousands were displaced and tens of thousands killed or disappeared.1 12. In 2015, President Maithripala Sirisena was elected to a five-year term, and parliamentary elections led to a coalition government between two of the main political parties. The new Government was marked by the implementation of a number of political and social reforms, favouring the opening of civic space, transitional justice, accountability and post-conflict reconciliation, including through the co-sponsoring and acceptance of obligations under Human Rights Council resolution 30/1. 13. While the Government was successful in implementing some of those reforms, progress came at a slow pace and certain promises were not delivered upon. Given the expectations that were created following the 2015 elections, a sentiment of dissatisfaction among the people and distrust of the Government came to the fore. That dissatisfaction was exacerbated by a perceived inability of the coalition Government to work effectively together. The situation came to a head during a political crisis in October 2018, when the President removed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, replacing him instead with former President Rajapaksa. Following a Supreme Court ruling in December, however, that decision was reversed. 14. On 21 April 2019, a series of bombings targeting churches and a number of luxury hotels in Colombo were carried out, allegedly by individuals related to National Thowheeth Jama’ath, a Sri Lankan militant Islamist group with suspected ties to foreign terrorist organizations. Over 250 people were killed and many more injured in the bombings. In response, a number of social media platforms were blocked and, on 23 April, a state of emergency was declared by the President. Those regulations were renewed each month, in accordance with the Constitution, with the measures lasting until 22 August 2019. While being clearly tragic in their own right, the bombings also stirred up tensions against the Muslim minority community. 15. Following the presidential elections held on 16 November 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was inaugurated as President on 18 November. 1 See A/HRC/30/CRP.2. 3