Monthly Archives: February 2018

Bremen Tribunal Prosecutor Contextualises the Bellinzona Court case

by ‘HumanRights.de,’ Bremen, Germany, February 23, 2018 Dr. Andy Higginbottom was the prosecutor for the Bremen session of the People’s Tribunal on Sri Lanka in 2013. Last week, he, together with two of the judges at the Bremen Tribunal, Dr. Denis Halliday and Dr. Maung Zarni responded to the Bellinzona case at our press conference… Read more »

Sri Lanka: 2017 Review

by Kithmina Hewage, ‘South Asian Voices,’ Stimson Center, Washington, January 5, 2018  The current coalition government of Sri Lanka was elected in 2015 with a mandate to implement broad political and economic reforms. Unfortunately the young government struggled to provide a uniting vision of reform to its coalition partners, which slowed the reform process considerably. Even though… Read more »

How is the World Ruled?

by Branko Milanovic on his blog, February 17, 2018 It is Saturday evening and snowing in New York. I have nowhere to go, I do have things to do (my book!) but my memories take over. Like for example, the simple question of how is the world ruled. I think that lots of misunderstanding among people in… Read more »

HRW: Key Elements for HRC 37 Statements on Sri Lanka

by Human Rights Watch, January 15, 2018 HRW Sri Lanka HRC37 letter We write to seek your support in ensuring that the upcoming consideration of Sri Lanka’s progress towards implementation of its commitments under UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution 30/1 accurately and substantively reflects the situation within the country, including both progress to date… Read more »

UN High Commissioner’s Report on Sri Lanka 2018

by High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, January 25, 2018 OHCHR Report on Sri Lanka 25 Jan 2018 Human Rights Council Thirty-seventh session 26 February–23 March 2018 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 »

MP Sampanthan’s Speech on Local Elections

by MP Sampanthan in Parliament, February 19, 2018 Excerpt: Local election results by district – http://lgelections2018.dailymirror.lk/election/localauthorities/TM/10 ——————————– MP Sampanthan’s Speech on the interim report of the Steering committee of the Constitutional Assembly on 1st November 2017

Rome Declaration

from ‘ICET,’ February 8, 2018 Rome Declaration in Italian & English – Rome_Declaration-english-italy-2018 Rome Declaration – 5 February 2018 1. The seven decades long genocide being committed by successive governments of Sri Lanka should be investigated by an international independent body outside the scope of Sri Lankan government-controlled judiciary. 2. Those tens of thousands who are still missing… Read more »

Securitisation and its Discontents

The End of Sri Lanka’s Long Postwar? by Jonathan Spencer, ‘Contemporary South Asia,’ UK, Volume 24, July 5, 2016 Securitization and its discontents the end of Sri Lanka s long post war Abstract In the 5 years after the 2009 defeat of the secessionist insurgency by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Sri Lankan… Read more »

Ancient Tamil King Elala (aka Elara)

by Sachi Sri Kantha, February 14, 2018 Objective The impetus for this commentary was provided by a ‘Note’ in a 2003 paper written by Buddhist monk Mahinda Deegalle, on violence and Theravada Buddhism. The ‘Note’ appended to this paper was, “When I delivered an early version of this paper at the St. Petersburg consultation, Wesley… Read more »

TG: Fault Line

‘Tamil Guardian’ editorial, London, February 12, 2017 Election results by ethnicity Feb 2018 PDF Sri Lanka’s unity government suffered an electoral blow at local government polls this weekend, just three years after its surprise victory. The Sinhala people renewed their support for the former war-time president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who asked voters to use the polls as… Read more »

PEARL: Remembering the Kumarapuram Massacre

by People for Relief and Equality in Lanka, Washington, DC, February 11, 2018 22 years ago today, in a small Tamil village in the North-East of Sri Lanka, a group of soldiers murdered 26 people, left 24 others injured, and gang-raped a 15-year-old girl. Twenty years after the Kumarapuram massacre, on July 27, 2016, an… Read more »

UN Committee Tells Sri Lanka to Transfer Military Run Schools

by ‘Colombo Gazette,’ February 8, 2018 A United Nations (UN) committee has urged Sri Lanka to ensure that all schools currently run by the military are transferred back under the Ministry of Education. The recommendation was made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its findings on Sri Lanka released today…. Read more »

‘Very Fair to Say SL Army Committed Genocide’

— Former UN staffer by ‘The Economic Times,’ India, from Press Trust of India, January 27, 2018 The atrocities committed against Tamils during the 25-year civil war in Sri Lanka amounted to ethnic cleansing and even today a huge drive is underway to change the demography of the Tamil-dominated region, noted photographer and former UN… Read more »

Panel in Washington discusses Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka

by ‘Tamil Guardian,’ London, February 5, 2018 A panel event on mass atrocities discussed the lack of progress made by Sri Lanka in the realm of transitional justice, in Washington DC last week. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Ferencz International Justice Initiative and the National Endowment for Democracy held an event on promoting justice for… Read more »

ITJP: : What Vetting of Sri Lankan Diplomats?

by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka & International Truth & Justice Project, February 7, 2018 ITJP JDS press-release-7-feb-2018 vetting SL diplomats Johannesburg: The UK, the UN and the international community have an obligation to step up their screening and vetting of Sri Lankan public and security officals for alleged involvement in atrocities during and… Read more »

ITJP: Brig. Priyanka Fernando in London

by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka and International Truth & Justice Project, February 5, 2018 On Sri Lanka’s 70th Independence Day, 4 February 2018, Brigadier Fernando attracted attention by thrice making slitting throat gestures to a crowd of chanting Tamil protestors outside the High Commission in London. The video of him, in full military… Read more »

UNHRC Briefing Note

HRC_briefingnote_En The Human Rights Council (HRC or Council) is the only intergovernmental organisation responding to all human rights abuses across the globe by exposing violators and demanding change. Follow proceedings by webcast Feb. 26-March 23 at http://webtv.un.org Documents & other materials are at  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session37/Pages/37RegularSession.aspx   Current Membership of the Human Rights Council, 1 January – 31 December 2018… Read more »

UNHRC February/March Session & Sri Lanka

by Thambu Kanagasabai  LLM [Lond], Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, February 5, 2018 The 37th UN Human Rights Council is scheduled to commence on 26th February 2018 and concludes on 23rd March. During this session, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is expected to present his written interim report on… Read more »

The Banality Of Evil

by Karthick Ram Manoharan, ‘Outlook India,’ February 5, 2018 The torture of incarcerated Tamils was not a betrayal of the Sri Lankan state’s Sinhala-Buddhist ideal, but that ideal being taken to its logical conclusion, writes Karthick Ram Manoharan. Excerpts from his afterword to Sri Lankan Tamil novelist Kuna Kaviyalahan’s ‘The Poisoned Dream’. Kuna Kaviyalahan’s The Poisoned… Read more »