as slaves to Gulf “People who have not gone through a conflict will not understand how difficult it is to take care of young children on your own. We suffered during the war and we are suffering now” – by Amantha Perera, Thomson Reuters Foundation, August 9, 2017 Tamil தமிழ் JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Aug 9 (Thomson… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
Holding Sri Lanka to Account
A dream or a reality? By: Thambu Kanagasabai LLM [Lond], Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s political and economic history from the day of independence in 1948 until 1956 was considered a role model for developing countries, even envied by the late Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew. Communal harmony… Read more »
TGTE: Remedial Justice for 1983 Massacre of Tamils
Would have averted 2009 Mullivaaikaal Genocide by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, July 23, 2017 Today Tamils across the globe are remembering 34th anniversary of massacre of Tamils – Black July 83. COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, July 24, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ — During the final days of July 1983, Sinhala racism unleashed a pogrom towards the Tamils… Read more »
Looking at Systemic Torture in Sri Lanka
by Taylor Dibbert, ‘The Diplomat,’ Tokyo, July 21, 2017 The Diplomat’s Taylor Dibbert speaks with Frances Harrison of the International Truth and Justice Project. Frances Harrison is the program coordinator of the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and author of a book on the final phase of the Sri Lankan civil war. She… Read more »
ITJP: Unstopped – 2016/17 Torture in Sri Lanka
by International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa, July 2017 Full report at http://www.itjpsl.com/assets/ITJP_unstopped_report_final.pdf or ITJP_unstopped_report_final The ITJP is administered by the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa under the guidance of its director, transitional justice expert, Yasmin Sooka. The ITJP team includes former prosecutors and investigators from the Ad Hoc Tribunal for the… Read more »
US May Deny Resettlement of Hundreds of Tamils on Nauru
Manus amid anti-terror laws by James Bennett & Stephen Dziedzic, Australian Broadcasting Corp., July 19, 2017 Australia will need to find an alternative home for a large number of Tamil asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus expected to be denied entry to the United States under sweeping anti-terror laws. Key points: 9-11 anti-terror legislation, the… Read more »
Invoking Nuremberg in Colombo
The writer clearly has a distance to travel to understand what took place during & after the war in Sri Lanka. Has she seen Channel 4’s ‘Killing Fields,’ read the OISL Report or the proceedings of the Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka, or talked to anyone who was in Mullavaikkal at the end of the… Read more »
SR Counter-Terrorism & Human Rights
Video of SR Emmerson’s media conference at end of his visit https://lk.one.un.org/news/full-statement-by-ben-emmerson-un-special-rapporteur-on-human-rights-and-counter-terrorism-at-the-conclusion-of-his-official-visit/ Human rights and counter-terrorism: UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism concludes visit to Sri Lanka Preliminary findings of the visit to Sri Lanka Colombo (14 July 2017) – The United Nations Special… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Difficulty with Truth
Half a year later, the Sri Lankan Government has let this important initiative languish. Although officials travelling abroad boast about the consultation process and herald it as a signal of the Government’s determination to abide by the Human Rights Council resolution, it has completely ignored the report domestically. Foreign governments watching Sri Lanka’s progress on… Read more »
Navy Officer Arrested in Case of 11 Missing Youth
Note: The Government of Sri Lanka has acknowledged 65,000 missing. See Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/sri-lanka-admits-65-000-missing-war-insurrection-170723940.html and Hindustani Times at http://www.hindustantimes.com/world/sri-lanka-to-recognise-around-65-000-people-missing-since-civil-war-as-dead/story-z9fUgfnEEiT74RXUmisHwK.html. Also see TCHR http://sangam.org/2007/11/Killed_1956_2007.php?uid=2619 — Editor by The Associated Press posted in ‘The New York Times’ Asia section July 12, 2017 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka police on Wednesday arrested a senior navy officer in connection with… Read more »
HRW: Minister Threatens Defender of Minority Rights
by Human Rights Watch, New York, June 19, 2017 Investigate, Prosecute Attacks on Muslims, Christians (New York) – The Sri Lankan government should immediately repudiate statements by the country’s justice minister threatening to disbar a prominent lawyer for speaking out against attacks on religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said today. The incident highlights the government’s… Read more »
Normalising the Abnormalcy
Reflections on Self-Determination, Justice and Peace in Post-War Sri Lanka by Prof. K. Guruparan, Melbourne, Australia, June 12, 2017 Text of the Mamanithar Late Prof C.J. Eliezer AM Memorial Lecture delivered on 12 June 2016 at the Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne I am deeply honoured by this invitation to deliver the Maamanithar Prof Christopher Jeyaratnam… Read more »
What the Families of the Disappeared Want
by K. Guruparan tweet, June 12, 2017 Demands put forward by the reps of the families of the disappeared to Pres. Sirisena during his visit to Jaffna on June 11, 2017 1. Release a list of all those who surrendered or were detained by the Sri Lankan Armed forces during and after the war, and… Read more »
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
On her mission to Sri Lanka Put into general distribution on March 23, 2017 Available online at http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/35/31/Add.1 Report of the SR Independence Judges Lawyers Mar 2017 Website of the Special Rapporteur Prevention of Terrorism Act 70. At the time of writing, the Prevention of Terrorism Act had not yet been repealed, despite repeated calls for… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Missing People
This is one set of numbers re casualties from Sri Lanka’s war. The 65,000 missing number comes from those reported to various official Sri Lankan commissions & officially accepted by Pres. Sirisena’s government in 2016. Accurate figures of casualties are one of the biggest challenges of the war. The numbers for civilian casualties in this… Read more »
BTF & USTPAC Press Release on the Campaign for the Missing, Marking 100 Days
BTF & USTPAC call for UNHRC intervention re intimidation at missing person protests_May302017 BTF and USTPAC call upon the UN Human Rights Council to, a) Request the High Commissioner or his high-level representatives to visit the protestors in Killinochchi to stop the intimidation of the people who are already traumatised… Read more »
How a Haiti Child Sex Ring was Whitewashed
UN PEACEKEEPERS: HOW A HAITI CHILD SEX RING WAS WHITEWASHED by Katy Daigle and Paisley Dodds, Associated Press in ‘The Washington Post,’ May 26, 2017 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The general sat on a plastic lawn chair in the garden of his mother’s home, the scent of tropical blooms filling the air as he… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Genocidal War as Seen by the World
By: Thambu Kanagasabai LLM [London], Former Lecturer in Law – University of Colombo, May 30, 2017 Though Sri Lanka unleashed its agenda of marginalization of Tamils starting in 1956 through a program of Budddhisisation and Sinhalisation and a hidden genocidal process, the climax was reached during the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from 2006… Read more »
Amnesty: Act Now to Prevent Further Anti-Muslim Violence
by Amnesty International, May 25, 2017 Sri Lankan authorities must act immediately to end attacks on Muslims in the country, and to rein in violent groups that target religious minorities, and take action against perpetrators, Amnesty International said. Index number: ASA 37/6361/2017 Amnesty Anti Muslim Violence May 2017 Sri Lanka: Act now to prevent further… Read more »
Amnesty: Priest Harassed over Memorial to Dear War Victims
by Amnesty International, May 25, 2017 May 25, 2017 URGENT ACTION: PRIEST HARASSED OVER MEMORIAL TO DEAD WAR VICTIMS (SRI LANKA: UA 116.17) Sri Lankan priest, Father Elil Rajendram, is being harassed by the police over his efforts to help families memorialize their loved ones lost during the armed conflict. 1) TAKE ACTION Write a… Read more »