Overspending and Underprotection by Daniel Alphonsus, ISAS South Asia Scan, National University of Singapore, November 18, 2021 Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget Sri Lanka’s internal and external security environments have changed considerably in the last decade. Internally, a three-decade long civil war ended, but the country experienced the first wounds of Islamic terrorism – the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Government
Verité: Res. 30/1 Implementation Monitor
by Verité Research, Colombo, February 2021 Implementation Status UNHRC Res.30.1 Feb 2021 Verite This brief contains an updated analysis of progress since UNHRC’s Resolution 30/1 passed in September 2015.
Amnesty: End the Use of and Repeal the Draconian PTA
by Amnesty International, London, February 18, 2022 Index Number: ASA 37/5241/2022 Amnesty Repeal PTA Feb 18 2022 43 years since it was first passed as a temporary measure, the draconian PTA continues to be used by the Government of Sri Lanka to target, and harass minorities, activists, journalists and critical voices. Despite assurances to amend… Read more »
Trilingual Blunders
Signboards, Social Media, and Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Publics by Prof. Christina P. Davis, Signs & Society, Volume 8, Number 1, Winter 2020 ABSTRACT In Sri Lanka all public signs are required by law to be in Sinhala, Tamil, and English. This article investigates the multiple, clashing ways that Sri Lankan Tamil speakers (Tamils and… Read more »
Abolishing PTA is the Only Way Out
by Basil Fernando, Groundviews, February 2, 2022 The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Bill, a bill to amend the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 (PTA), has been gazetted by the order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The proposed amendment still leaves much that has been criticized as dangerous… Read more »
‘Executive Authoritarianism’ as Sri Lanka’s New Political Normal since COVID-19
by Jayadeva Uyangoda, Social Scientists Association, Colombo. October 2020 or shortly thereafter The ways in which countries from the global North to the global South have politically managed the unprecedented public health emergency situation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has both national and global dimensions, have given rise to much anxiety among democratic… Read more »
Activating the Dormant 13th Amendment of 1987
by Thambu Kanagasabai – Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, January 26, 2022 The 1987 13th Amendment, a conceived and delivered baby of India under the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 for adoption by Sri Lanka, has been lying in the constitution of Sri Lanka partly implemented and mostly ignored by the… Read more »
Counterterrorism Legislation in Sri Lanka 2006
Evaluating Efficacy by N. Manoharan, East West Center, Hawaii, 2006 N. Manoharan Counterterrorism Legislation in Sri Lanka 2006 The study advances two arguments. First, it posits that the process of enactment and enforcement undermined the legitimacy and effectiveness of counterterrorism legislation. Second, it argues that the insurgency rooted in the discriminated minority community was able… Read more »
Is Foreign Policy Possible for Eelam Tamils?
by A. Jathindra யதீந்திரா, Samakalam, August 9, 2021 [translated by the author] There is talk of a need for a foreign policy for Eelam Tamils. To the extent that things are usually talked about in our environment, those things are not looked at deeply. That is, how can we make the things we present possible?… Read more »
L&ST: Understanding Rule of Law, Human Security & Prevention of Terrorism in Sri Lanka
by Ermiza Tegal, Law & Society Trust, Colombo, February 2021 Understanding_Rule_of_Law_Human_Security_and_Prevention_of_Terrorism_in_Sri_Lanka_English 6. Conclusion This report aimed to respond to three main questions (1) what are the international legal standards in relation to arbitrary arrest and detention particularly in the context of countering terrorism? (2) what is Sri Lanka’s domestic legal framework in protecting the rights… Read more »
In Sri Lanka, The COVID Response is Exacerbating Religious & Ethnic Tensions
by Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch in cooperation with Stanley Center for Peace & Security, June 22, 2021 Podcast interview with J.S. Tissainayagam at In Sri Lanka, The COVID Response is Exacerbating Religious and Ethnic Tensions | UN Dispatch In May 2009, the long running civil war in Sri Lanka ended with the defeat of… Read more »
Atrocities Cast Shadow on Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 Response
by J.S. Tissainayagam, Stanley Center for Peace & Security, Iowa, USA, May 17, 2021 Ranjini,* a housewife, lives in Kilinochchi, a town in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province. Earlier this year, the government began vaccinating the public against COVID-19. But this has made her fearful: she is not sure if she will be injected with… Read more »
The Myth of Security and the Prevention of Terrorism Act
False Promises by Ambika Satkunanathan, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo, July 14, 2021 For decades human rights activists have highlighted the draconian nature of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which promises safety and security, yet in practice makes each citizen vulnerable to being arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured and even convicted of an offence the person did not… Read more »
In Sri Lanka, the Government Looks Increasingly Like a Family Firm
Three brothers of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa now hold top posts in his government. Two of his nephews have official positions, too. by Muib Mashal, The New York Times, July 11, 2021 The first attempt by a Rajapaksa to return to power in Sri Lanka was brief. In 2018, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as… Read more »
Report of the Consultation Task Force, Nov. 2016
by Consultation Task Force, Sri Lanka, November 17, 2016 CTF-Final-Report-Volume-I-Nov-16 As the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms no longer has a website and our link to this report of the Consultation Task Force at Consultation Task Force Final Report – Ilankai Tamil Sangam no longer works, we are posting the PDF here. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A…. Read more »
Amnesty: Sri Lanka Struggles to Respond Effectively to COVID-19 Third Wave
by Amnesty International, London, June 10, 2021 Index number ASA 37/4262/2021 Amnesty Sri Lanka Struggles to Respond to Covid 3rd Wave ASA3742622021ENGLISH [pdf] As several countries with access to vaccines lift restrictions and seem to be coming out of the pandemic, Covid-19 continues to pose significant challenges in South Asia and beyond, and Sri Lanka… Read more »
ITJP: New Appointments in Sri Lanka Torpedo What Left of the Transitional Justice Mechanisms
by International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa, June 1, 2021 Final-OMP-RO-Press-Release Johannesburg: The appointment of the war-time police chief to the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) in Sri Lanka completes the militarisation of this transitional justice mechanism established under the previous government. The move obliterates any chance of truth and justice for the Families… Read more »
The Vaddukoddai Resolution of the Tamil Nation of Sri Lanka
An Appraisal on the Legal Dimensions of the Resolution by Dr. Sandrasegaram Paramalingam, May 21, 2021 ‘‘India’s approach was based on two fundamental considerations: One was the support to the ‘Tamils of Sri Lanka’ for equality, justice, dignity and peace. The other was ensuring unity, stability and the territorial integrity of ‘Sri Lanka’.” “We have… Read more »
TGTE Mourns Passing of Former US Attorney General Mr. Ramsey Clark
by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, EINPresswire, April 14, 2021 He was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the TGTE & served as TGTE’s New York Election Commissioner for its first parliamentary elections in 2010 Mr. Clark served as lead counsel in representing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in its… Read more »
The Administration of Jaffna Kingdom
A historical view by Dr. K Arunthavarajah, Senior Lecturer Gr.1, Department of History, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, International Journal of Business and Administration Research Review, Vol.2, Issue.3, Jan-March, 2014. Administration of Jaffna Kingdom 2014 Abstract According to the historical and archaeological evidences, the Jaffna Kingdom had come into existence about the 13th century A.D… Read more »