by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, May 10, 2022 ITJP_1989_mass_grave_report_v6_WEB This is a joint report from the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS). As Sri Lanka is enveloped in unprecedented anger directed at the Rajapaksa family, a new report reveals that the President,… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
TCHR: ‘Reaching Towards Justice: Reality Revealed’
by Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, February 3, 2022 A book in English and in Tamil has been released by France-based human rights activist cum Freelance research analyst S. V. Kirupaharan – KIRUPA. The book’s title is Reaching towards justice: Reality revealed – a Socio-politico-historical perspective. Due to the sudden rise of the Covid pandemic in Europe, the book launch supposed… Read more »
Sri Lanka is in an Economic Freefall
by Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch podcast, April 28, 2022 https://undispatch.com/category/podcast APPLE PODCASTS | GOOGLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | PODCAST ADDICT | STITCHER | RADIO PUBLIC Transcript lightly edited for clarity How Has Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis Affected Its Citizens? J.S. Tissainayagam [00:02:59] Sri Lanka’s problem today stems basically from a failure of accountability when wrong decisions are made. This has led to both… Read more »
My Neighbor the Suspected War Criminal
by Reveal News podcast, California, April 23, 2022 This month, atrocities in Ukraine have triggered new allegations of war crimes. While people around the world call for accountability, we look into why those who are suspected of committing war crimes in the past often walk free. Reporter and host Ike Sriskandarajah spent the past six… Read more »
Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka
by UN Secretary-General, New York, March 31, 2011 POE_Report 2011 Executive Summary On 22 June 2010, the Secretary-General announced the appointment of a Panel of Experts to advise him on the implementation of the joint commitment included in the statement issued by the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General at the conclusion of the… Read more »
Annaipoopathy and Mothers Fighting for the Disappeared
by Nillanthan Maha in his blog, March 30, 2022 [translated by Google Translate, with some edits] The mothers of the missing opposed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Jaffna last Sunday. They have been rudely treated by the police. Annai Bhupathi is considered to be the forerunner of Ammuthiya mothers in modern Tamil politics. Thirty-four… Read more »
What are Thermobaric and Cluster Bombs?
A look at their use by the Sri Lankan army by Tamil Guardian, London, March 2, 2022 Russian manufactured cluster bombs used by the Sri Lankan military, photographed in Vanni, 2008. As Russia continues its offensive in Ukraine, it has been accused of launching deadly types of weaponry during its assault – thermobaric and cluster… Read more »
Assoc. Thendral Written Statement re Genocidal Intent
by Association Thendral, France, February 7, 2022 Assoc Thendral written statement UNHRC Feb 2022 A/HRC/49/NGO/195 Genocidal Intent The intent of the Sri Lankan government to destroy, in whole or in part, the Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, is clear from several categories of evidence: 1) Documentary evidence including court case documents; 2) Legal inference based… Read more »
Statement of India at UNHRC re Sri Lanka
by Permanent Mission of India, Geneva, March 4, 2022 Video Statement of India under Agenda Item 2: Interactive Dialogue on OHCHR’s written report on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka during the 49th Session of the Human Rights Council (28 February – 1 April 2022), delivered by Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey, Permanent… Read more »
Statement by HCHR Michelle Bachelet
by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, March 4, 2022 Video Update and Interactive dialogue on Sri Lanka Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 49th session of the Human Rights Council 4 March 2022 Distinguished President, Excellencies, Council Members have received our written update on Sri Lanka (A/HRC/49/9). It… Read more »
UN Experts Call for Swift Suspension of Prevention of Terrorism Act
by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, March 2, 2022 UN human rights experts* have called for an immediate moratorium on the use of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and urged the Government to substantively review and revise the legislation to comply with international human rights law. “There is a… Read more »
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.
UN High Commissioner for HR Report on Sri Lanka
by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/49/9, Geneva, February 25, 2022 20220225 UNHCHR Report on Sri Lanka Human Rights Council Forty-ninth session 28 February–1 April 2022 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 Promoting reconciliation,… Read more »
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 »
British War Crimes Police Arrest Man Over Murder of Tamil Journalist in Jaffna
by Tamil Guardian, London, February 24, 2022 The Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team have arrested a 48-year-old man in Britain over the murder of Tamil journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan in Jaffna more than 20 years ago – marking the first time that British authorities have made an arrest over war crimes committed in Sri Lanka. In… Read more »
Universal Jurisdiction — the Most Difficult Path
To Achieve Justice in Sri Lanka by Andreas Schuller, JustSecurity, New York, February 24, 2022 (Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series on the spotlight to be placed on allegations of war crimes and other abuses in Sri Lanka during the Feb. 22 to March 23, 2021, session of the United Nations Human Rights… Read more »
It’s Time for the Human Rights Council to Act on Sri Lanka
Former UN High Commissioner Pillay Says by Laurel B. Fletcher, JustSecurity, New York, February 15, 2022 (Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series on the likely spotlight to be placed on allegations of war crimes and other abuses in Sri Lanka during the next session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, beginning Feb…. Read more »
HRW: Sri Lanka’s Failure to Reform the Prevention of Terrorism Act
“In a legal black hole” by Human Rights Watch, New York, February 7, 2022 February 7, 2022 News Release Sri Lanka: Grave Abuses Under Discredited Law Summary Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been used for over 40 years to enable prolonged arbitrary detention, to extract false confessions through torture, and to target minority… 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 »
What Makes Amnesty’s Apartheid Report Different?
by Maureen Clare Murphy, The Electronic Intifada, February 3, 2022 What makes Amnesty International’s new report determining that Israel practices the crime of apartheid against Palestinians any different from those that came before it? Certainly, Israel’s “hysterical” reaction – (in the words of one Haaretz headline) – to the Amnesty study is notably different from its relatively understated response to similar… Read more »