There was a prehistory to Black July, consisting of the teaching of contempt and the spreading of fear. It was that seeding which enabled Black July. Today we are living through the pre-history of an anti-Muslim riot. The demonising of all Muslims as fanatics hell-bent on taking over our land, our economy and our women… 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 At the time of writing, the Prevention of Terrorism Act had not yet been repealed, despite repeated calls for… Read more »
We Eelam Tamils Embrace the 150th Birthday Celebrations of Canada
By Eelaventhan Manickavasakar, June 6, 2017 Canada’s concept of unity and diversity has a special appeal to the Eelam Tamils. Sri Lanka should learn lessons from Canada for it to survive in dignity and self honour. – Canada is also a classic example of how a multi lingual, multi national, multi religious state can preserve… 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 »
Why I Write? – A Sequel
by Sachi Sri Kantha, June 2, 2017 Two weeks ago, when I visited Tokyo, I bought an old copy of ‘The Journals of Sylvia Plath’, originally published 35 years ago in 1982. Due to her suicide death in 1963, at the age of 30, the short life of poet Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) has fascinated me…. 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 »
Remembering Sivaram
by Amna Jatoi, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo May 25,2017 His biographer speaks of the unimaginable cultural consequences of living continually under the gun. Although this comment was made about Tamil communities living in Sri Lanka more widely, it provides the basis for understanding Dharmaretnam Sivaram’s core beliefs about the role of intellectuals, or those with knowledge (and… Read more »
Violence against Religious Minorities in Sri Lanka
by UCAN (Catholic News Asia) in Vatican Radio, May 26, 2017 http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/05/26/violence_against_religious_minorities_in_sri_lanka/1314905 Human rights groups, religious leaders, lawmakers and the United Nations have all called on the Sri Lankan government to take immediate action against sectarian violence and growing tensions in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The groups blame the government for failing to halt… 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 »
Facing Sri Lanka’s Ghosts
by Devon Haynie, ‘US News & World Report,’ May 18, 2017 With thousands still missing, Sri Lanka’s postwar progress comes to a halt. VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka — At some point during its brutal 26 years, the Sri Lankan civil war brought terror or loss to virtually everyone in the country. For Kasipillai Jeyavanitha, a mother… Read more »
The Women Left Behind
by Devon, Haynie, US News & World Report, May 18, 2017 Sri Lanka’s civil war ended eight years ago today, but for its 90,000 war widows, the battle continues. VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka — It was midnight in 2008 when several members of Sri Lanka’s security forces barged into Rajendran Geetha’s house and took her husband,… Read more »
‘Demons in Paradise’
SYNOPSIS Sri Lanka 1983, Jude Ratman is five years old. On a red train, he flees the massacre of the Tamils instigated by the Pro-Sinhalese majoritarian government. Now a filmmaker, he takes the same train from South to North. As he advances, the traces of the violence of the 26-year-old war and the one which… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Transition to Nowhere
by International Crisis Group, Brussels, May 16, 2017 ICG Sri Lanka’s Transition to Nowhere Executive Summary Two years into President Maithripala Sirisena’s term, Sri Lanka’s fragile hopes for lasting peace and cooperation across party and ethnic lines are imperilled. Despite significant achievements in the coalition government’s first nine months, progress on most of its reform… Read more »
Submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
by Minority Rights Group International (MRG), the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) and Women Development Innovators (WDI), May 11, 2017 *** Sri Lanka: Issues of land and sea grabbing on minorities brought to UN In order to reflect the current situation of minorities in Sri Lanka, IMADR, Minority Rights Group International (MRG)… Read more »
Biting the Bullet
Demilitarizing Economic Relations in Post-War Sri Lanka by Law and Society Trust, Colombo, May 2017 Biting the Bullet 20170508 The Law & Society Trust (LST) is a not-for-profit organisation engaged in human rights documentation, legal research and advocacy in Sri Lanka. Our aim is to use rights-based strategies in research, documentation and advocacy in order… Read more »