Following the former president’s return to power, international community needs to take urgent action to protect Tamils by Mario Arulthas, AlJazeera, Qatar, October 29, 2018 On October 26, Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and replaced him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This sudden challenge to Sri Lanka’s regime blindsided some political observers and members… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Military
UN asks Sri Lanka to Repatriate Commander in Mali
By Edith M. Lederer | AP in ‘The Washington Post,’ New York October 19, 2018 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/un-asks-sri-lanka-to-repatriate-commander-in-mali/2018/10/19/6ae66914-d413-11e8-a4db-184311d27129_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5980d2323174 UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations asked the government of Sri Lanka on Friday to immediately repatriate the commander of its 200-strong contingent assigned to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Mali following a review of his human rights background. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric… Read more »
ITJP: UN Repatriates Sri Lankan Peacekeeper for His Role in 2009 War
by International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa, October 20, 2018 ITJP UN repatriates Sri Lankan peacekeeper for his role in 2009 war …During the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009 Amunupure was second in command of the 11th Sri Lanka Light Infantry which operated under the 58th Division. A UN Investigation… Read more »
Mollycoddling Sri Lanka Doesn’t Work
by Taylor Dibbert, ‘Financial Times,’ Colombo, October 18, 2018 Mark Field, Britain’s Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, recently penned a terrible op-ed in The Daily Mirror. The piece coincided with a visit to the country. “First, it is important to recognise the positives,” Field writes. He… Read more »
Tamil Women Freedom Fighters
by Usha Sriskandarajah, October 10, 2018 Remembering Malati and Celebrating Women’s Day of Awakening Today is a solemn day as well as a day that ought to inspire all Tamil women and men – to take the ideals of our freedom fighters and continue the struggle for the emancipation and restoration of Tamil Eelam. We… Read more »
Plight of Civilians Living under Army of Occupation
An alien, hostile military by Kumarathasan Rasingam, September 24, 2018 Contrary to promises made in Geneva that in the name of peace and reconciliation the Sri Lanka government would dismantle High Security Zones, close army cantonments and return lands seized from the people, the Northern and the Eastern Provinces, considered the Tamil homeland, continue to… Read more »
MAP Calls For Independent Evidence-Gathering Mechanism
For Sri Lanka by Colombo Telegraph, September 30, 2018 Sri Lanka Monitoring and Accountability Panel (MAP) called for the UN Human Rights Council to set up an independent evidence-gathering mechanism for Sri Lanka with a similar mandate to those on Syria and now Myanmar. The organization made this request in light of the Sri Lankan government’s continued… Read more »
ITJP: Sri Lanka & Cluster Munitions
President of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Sri Lanka, Must Come Clean on Past Use by International Truth & Justice Project – Sri Lanka, South Africa, September 28, 2018 ITJP cluster-munition-press-release 28 Sept 2018
How Assad Made Truth a Casualty of War
by Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, ‘The New York Review of Books,’ September 7, 2018 Was Colvin’s sacrifice worthwhile? It is tempting to say no—that in an indifferent world, no story is worth dying for. But Colvin’s life is itself a rebuke to such pragmatism: she had risked her life before and saved many other lives as… Read more »
In Idlib, Final Offensive in Syrian War May Come at Horrific Cost
by Margaret Coker, Hwaida Saad and Carlotta Gall, ‘The New York Times,’ September 2, 2018 BAGHDAD — On land, Syria’s government is mustering thousands of conscripts to bolster its depleted forces. At sea, a Russian naval flotilla is just offshore, ready to intervene with formidable firepower. In Idlib Province, millions of civilians are dreading what… Read more »
Myanmar Generals Should Face Genocide Charges Over Rohingya, U.N. Says
by Nick Cummings-Bruce, ‘The New York Times,’ August 27, 2019 GENEVA — Myanmar’s army commander and other top generals should face trial in an international court for genocide against Rohingya Muslims and for crimes against humanity targeting other ethnic minorities, United Nations experts said on Monday after a yearlong investigation. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing,… Read more »
UN SR Ben Emmerson’s Report on Sri Lanka
by UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson, July 24, 2018 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism on his mission to Sri Lanka Sri_LankaReportJuly2018.PDF A. Conclusions 59. In 2015, Sri Lanka seemed to have turned a corner. New elections brought to power a coalition government and with it the… Read more »
Protecting or Facilitating?
A review of the humanitarian response to IDP detention in Sri Lanka, 2009 All too often however, humanitarian organisations were poorly equipped with the time, skills and attitudes to address a situation where the state was not representing the interests of the population. In these cases, supporting the vulnerable means contesting state agendas, even where… Read more »
Sri Lanka Military Caught Red Handed While Misleading Public Inquiry
by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, July 18, 2018 Military authorities in Sri Lanka have been providing incorrect information about sexual abuse by its soldiers and officers while on a UN peacekeeping mission. A joint press release issued on Tuesday (17) by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) has… Read more »
Sri Lankan ‘War Criminals’ Deployed as UN Peacekeepers
by Mark Townsend, ‘The Guardian,’ Manchester, July 21, 2018 The UN has been sending alleged war criminals to act as peacekeepers in conflict zones, a confidential report claims. The document, seen by the Observer, and sent to the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations last month, claims that senior Sri Lankan officers accused of war crimes have… Read more »
Over 60,000 People Disappeared
Here Are the Families Trying to Find Them by Whitney Kimball, ‘Jezebel’ The Slot, New York, NY, July 1, 2018 If you pass a protest for “the Disappeared” today, it’s probably not referencing the migrant families separated by Trump’s zero-tolerance policy, but another massive population of people separated from their families whom we don’t hear… Read more »
Army Top Brass Accountable for Violations Further Up the Ladder
by Athula Vithanage, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, Germany, June 18, 2018 The Sri Lankan government, which continuously avoid probing military implicated in committing serious human rights violations, has once again rewarded them with plum posts. Brigadier Deshapriya Gunawardena and Major General Duminda Keepetiwalana are those most recent recipients of military promotions. Brigadier Gunawardena appointed… Read more »
Sri Lanka is an Open Door to the Indian Ocean
by Major Nicholas R. Nappi, US Marines, Proceeding Magazine of US Naval Institute, September 2017 U.S. maritime engagements with India can be best described as a security cooperation courtship that never gets past the first date. On the surface, this budding partnership looks promising. The U.S. and Indian militaries participate in executive steering groups (ESGs),… Read more »
The Reverberating Effects of Explosive Weapons
When the bombs fall silent by Action on Armed Violence, May 29, 2018 The long-term impact of explosive violence is known to be devastating, but is still relatively poorly understood. With civilian deaths from explosive weapons increasing each year, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) conducted research into the reverberating effects of manufactured explosive weapons, so… Read more »
Adayaalam: Tamil Political Prisoners
Suggestions for a Comprehensive Legal Policy Approach by Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, Jaffna, May 7, 2018 Issue Brief #3 ACPR-Issue-Brief-No.3-Tamil-Political-Prisoners-Suggestions-for-a-Comprehensive-Legal-Policy-Approach-1 I. Introduction Mr. Satchithanantham Ananthasuthakaran, sentenced to life under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in 2017, was given three hours on the 18th of March 2018 to take part in his wife’s funeral at their residence in… Read more »