Monthly Archives: March 2014

ICJ: UN Investigation Offers Hope to Victims in Sri Lanka

The UN Human Rights Council resolution to establish an international investigation into allegations of human rights violations and abuses committed by both sides in Sri Lanka’s civil war gives hope to tens of thousands of victims who continue to be denied truth and justice. “The resolution sends a strong message to the Government of Sri… Read more »

US Official Comments on UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka

Secretary of State John Kerry 03/27/2014 10:09 AM EDT UN Human Rights Council Vote on Sri Lanka Reconciliation Press Statement John KerrySecretary of State Washington, DC March 27, 2014  Today’s vote in the UN Human Rights Council sends a clear message: The time to pursue lasting peace and prosperity is now; justice and accountability cannot… Read more »

MGR Remembered – Part 16

by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 28, 2014 Part 15  Costs of Film Production in 1950s Historians of Indian film, Barnow and Krishnaswamy had included the currency conversion rates, as follows: For years 1949 to 1963, one American dollar equaled 5 Indian rupees. Thus, 200,000 to 2,000,000 rupees (the range cost of production of a film… Read more »

Public Writings on Sri Lanka Vol. II

  Book Review: Public Writings on Sri Lanka– Vol. II By Charles Sarvan Paper No. 5673                       Dated 26-Mar-2014 (CinnamonTeal Publishing – Dogears Print Media Pvt. Ltd. Tel 91-832-2751509 – E mail: contactus /A_T/ cinnamonteal /D_O_T/ in) For quite sometime, Sri Lanka has been in the news for all the wrong reasons with international criticism over… Read more »

USTPAC Welcomes UN Human Rights Council-led Investigation

USTPAC Press Release HRC25 Resolution on Sri Lanka 032814 WASHINGTON DC, March 28 2014: On Thursday, March 27, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution on Sri Lanka, A/HRC/25/L.1/Rev.1, which creates an international investigation into widespread human rights violations committed during the war that ended in May 2009. “Tamils have waited nearly… Read more »

UNHRC Resolution Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka

Human Rights Council Twenty- fifth session Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Albania,* Austria, Belgium,* Bulgaria,* Canada,* Croatia,* Cyprus,* Denmark,* Estonia, Finland,* France, Georgia,* Germany, Greece,* Hungary,* Iceland,* Ireland, Italy, Latvia,* Liechtenstein,* Lithuania,* Luxembourg,* Mauritius,*… Read more »

Facing a War Crimes Inquiry, Sri Lanka Continues to Vex the U.N.

UNITED NATIONS — What to do with Sri Lanka? The island nation, triumphant after nearly three decades of war against ethnic separatists, has vexed the United Nations. Five years after the war’s brutal ending, the world body has been unable to address grave human rights violations committed by the warring parties, making Sri Lanka something… Read more »

Why a UN Probe of Sri Lanka Would Spark New Hope for Reconciliation

Five years ago, Sri Lanka’s civil war reached a bloody conclusion on a stretch of beach in the island’s northeast, as government forces pummeled the remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and thousands of Tamil civilians trapped near them. The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, flush with triumphalist fever, insisted it had done… Read more »

Demilitarisation, Human Rights and Indo-US Interests

by Dr. Parasaran, Rangarajan, ‘Eurasia Review,’ Oregon, USA, reprinted from South Asia Analysis Group, March 25, 2014 The United States is reported to have requested a military installation in Sri Lanka as part of its “Pivot Towards Asia” where the Pentagon has stated that approximately 60% of U.S. Navy assets will be in the Asia… Read more »

The Forever War?

by International Crisis Group, Brussels, March 25, 2014 The heavy militarisation of Sri Lanka’s northern province after the civil war’s bloody end in 2009 has been the subject of growing domestic andinternational concern. The large numbers of military personnel in the north, and the deep involvement of the military in the province’s governance, endanger the re-establishment of… Read more »

The Lord Business

UN is no Tamil’s string of pearls. Let’s just be honest.  The current UN resolution as it stands will not bring impactful change to the Eelam Tamils. What it does though is to keep a door ajar.  It is a sensible beachhead strategy.  It is so because that is where the final act will play… Read more »

Spreadsheets and Global Mayhem

Using machine-learning tools to draw inferences about the effects of each piece of information they analyzed, the researchers compiled a list of 15 countries facing the highest risk of genocide between 2011 and 2015. Central African Republic, which had been on no one’s radar at the time, came out at the top, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad. Also on the list were some obvious contenders with continuing strife: Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria. They didn’t get everything right: Sri Lanka was on the list, but has witnessed no outbreaks of mass violence since 2011 — not yet, anyway.

An Unfinished War

The report’s authors say its evidence must urgently be referred to an International Criminal Court or an international tribunal. They call on the United Nations Secretary General to establish an international inquiry to investigate and prosecute violations by Sri Lankan security force members.

Sen. Menendez Letter to HCHR

Menendez Letter to UNHR High Commissioner for HR Pillay Re Sri Lanka R… FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2014 Contact: adam_sharon /A_T/ foreign.senate /D_O_T/ gov (Menendez) Chairman Menendez Expresses Support for an International Investigation into Sri Lankan War Crime Allegations WASHINGTON, DC – Chairman Menendez wrote UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay to express… Read more »

Healing the Wounds of a Bitter War

It will be highly difficult for Sri Lanka to establish long-term peace without fixing accountability for the war crimes During the week of March 24, the U.N. Human Rights Council countries will be asked to show where they stand on a resolution on Sri Lanka. That resolution seeks to support the U.N. High Commissioner for… Read more »

1974 Jaffna Tragedy and De Kretser Commission Findings

40th Anniversary of January 10th Deaths in Jaffna and De Kretser Commission Findings Jaffna Conference 1974 Tragedy committee report The Fourth International Conference of Tamil Research Studies was held in Jaffna, between January 3rd and 9th, 1974. Unfortunately, on the next day (January 10th), a tragedy occurred and nine individuals lost their lives among the… Read more »

U.N. Council Steps In Where Sri Lanka Has Failed to Act

There was a time, not so long ago, when Sri Lanka was known for the quality of its democracy. In 1975, when I was a Foreign Service officer at the U.S. Embassy there, the country was in economic straits but proud of its international reputation for an independent political culture, a feisty press, and a… Read more »

CPA: Statement on Arbitrary Detention of Human Rights Defenders

CPA has repeatedly called on the Government to repeal, if not amend the PTA so as to bring its provisions in line with Sri Lanka’s own constitutional standards of fundamental rights as well as its international obligations, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The PTA gives wide discretionary powers to law enforcement authorities on matters relating to detention and admission of confessions, providing little or no safeguards against abuses of power. It also provides for vague and loosely defined offences with heavy penalties that are inconsistent with general principles of criminal liability. The Act was initially conceived as a temporary measure to respond to extraordinary security challenges faced by the State in 1979. However, the draconian provisions of the Act have been regularised over time and have often been used to punish perceived opponents of the Government in power. Furthermore, the PTA’s continued existence in post-war Sri Lanka runs contrary to the narrative of peace and stability the Government projects both within and outside Sri Lanka.

HRW Dispatches: Silencing Sri Lanka’s Rights Advocates

Unlike many activists who are ground down by the challenges of taking on a powerful state, Ruki Fernando has never lost the ability to laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity of the Sri Lankan government’s graceless efforts to dodge accountability for abuses.  That includes its public campaign to deny any responsibility for war crimes… Read more »