Human Rights Half Measures: Avoiding Accountability in Postwar Sri Lanka

by Kate Cronin-Furman, Cambridge University Press’ World Politics journal, Vol. 72, Issue 1, November 11, 2019 Abstract Why do repressive states create human rights institutions that cost them money and political capital but fail to silence international criticism? The academic literature assumes that states engaging in disingenuous human rights behavior are hoping to persuade (or… Read more »

Kamala Harris and the ‘Other 1 Percent’

Long before the Democratic vice-presidential candidate became a national figure, India played a role in American politics by Dinyar Patel, The Atlantic, New York, October 2020 In a few weeks, the United States might elect its first vice president of Indian heritage. Kamala Harris’s rise mirrors the fortunes of Indian Americans, a wildly successful community whose… Read more »

Universal Declaration of Human Rights & Sri Lanka

by Kumarathasan Rasingam, October 3, 2020 The Universal Declaration for Human Rights  [UDHR] was adopted on 10th December 1948 by the United Nations at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris.  The UDHR contains thirty Articles. Articles 1 and 2 outline the philosophical claim of the UDHR and emphasise that human beings are born free in… Read more »

Nonviolent Action in Myanmar

Challenges and Lessons for Civil Society and Donors by La Ring; Khin Sandar Nyunt; Nist Pianchupat; Shaazka Beyerle, US Institute for Peace, Washington, September 18, 2020 Full report at https://www.usip.org/publications/2020/09/nonviolent-action-myanmar-challenges-and-lessons-civil-society-and-donors The National League for Democracy’s decisive victory in Myanmar’s 2015 elections inspired hopes of a full transition from military rule and an opening of civil… Read more »

Amnesty on Enforced Disappearances

by Amnesty International statement to US Congress’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on Latin America, October 1, 2020 https://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/government-relations/advocacy/amnesty-lantos-statement-enforced-disappearances/ … Sri Lanka:  Sri Lanka has one of the world’s highest number of enforced disappearances, with estimates ranging from 60,000 to 100,000 arising in connection with internal armed conflicts since the late 1980s. One emblematic… Read more »

Rajapaksa Shifts Up a Gear

Tamil Guardian editorial, London, September 28, 2020 Sri Lanka’s president has wasted little time in getting to work. Within weeks of his party sweeping parliamentary polls, Gotabaya Rajapaksa rapidly produced the long-promised 20th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s constitution, which seeks to further concentrate power into the executive presidency he occupies. As expected, there are few checks… Read more »

India-Sri Lanka Joint Statement on Virtual Bilateral Summit

by NarendraModi.in, September 26, 2020 1. Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa held a Virtual Summit today in which they discussed bilateral relations and regional & international issues of mutual concern. 2. Prime Minister Modi congratulated Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on his assumption of office… Read more »

How ‘Jakarta’ Became the Codeword for US-Backed Mass Killing

by, Vincent Bevins, The New York Review of Books, May 18, 2020 Suspected communists under armed guard, Jakarta, Indonesia, December 1, 1965 In May 1962, a girl named Ing Giok Tan got on a rusty old boat in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her country, one of the largest in the world, had been pulled into the global… Read more »

U.K. Conservation Society Details Links to Colonialism and Slavery

The National Trust said a third of the properties it manages had direct links to colonialism or slavery. Some have a “hugely uncomfortable” history, it said. by Elian Peltier, The New York Times, September 22, 2020 LONDON — The country house of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, an ardent imperialist; an estate in northern England… Read more »

Remembering Thileepan’s Sacrifice 33 Years On

by Tamil Guardian, London, September 26, 2020 Today marks 33 years since the death of Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE who fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people. Thileepan began his fast on the September 15, 1987, with 100,000 people… Read more »

Amazing Mum

The ‘amazing’ mum who fled two civil wars and ended up running a Flintshire petrol station by Kelly Williams, Daily Post, UK, September 19, 2020 Shanty Yoganathan’s daughter Niz shared her mum’s incredible tale as she gets set to celebrate her 50th birthday A proud daughter has shared the extraordinary tale of how her mum… Read more »

Transitional Justice at the UN Security Council

International Community Commits to Nuanced, Comprehensive Transitional Justice at UN Security Council Open Debate by International Center for Transitional Justice, New York, September 21, 2020 As the world continues to grapple with the deadly coronavirus pandemic and a global economic downturn, United Nations (UN) member states will convene this week for the annual General Assembly,… Read more »

A New Domestic Process in Sri Lanka

Will not bring reconciliation and justice Sri Lanka Campaign, London, Sep 25, 2020 At the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) last week, the Government of Sri Lanka tried dismiss calls for greater international action on Sri Lanka, saying that it is committed to a domestic process to deliver reconciliation and justice. But how could… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Boiling Tamils

And failing Tamil political leaders by Thambu Kanagasabai: LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, September 21, 2020 There is no denying of the fact that the Tamils in Sri Lanka have been at the receiving end by the successive Governments in power and targeted in the agenda of GENOCIDE including structural GENOCIDE… Read more »

UNHRC Session 45

High Commissioner for Human Rights opening statement, September 14, 2020 In Sri Lanka, I am troubled that the new Government is swiftly reneging on its commitments to the Human Rights Council since it withdrew its support for resolution 30/1. Among other developments, the proposed 20th amendment to the Constitution may negatively impact on the independence… Read more »

Lyricist Maruthakasi’s Autobiographical Notes

An English translation by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 15, 2020   Front Note by Sachi Last year, I contributed a short memorial item on Aiyamperumal Maruthakasi (1920-1989), famed Tamil lyricist. on his 30th death anniversary. I had provided my English translations to three of his immortal movie lyrics. https://sangam.org/remembering-aiyamperumal-maruthakasi-1920-1989/ This year marks Maruthakasi’s birth centenary…. Read more »

Return of Executive Presidency

Threatens to undermine Sri Lanka’s pact with minorities The Tamil people opposed the Executive Presidency both for its centralisation of power and also for its corrupting influence on democracy. by M A Sumanthiran , Indian Express, New Delhi, September 14, 2020 9:04:46 am There is no doubt that the 20th Amendment to the Constitution Bill… Read more »

Tale of a Tiger

Facets of LTTE Chief Prabhakaran’s life by DBS Jeyaraj, Daily FT, Colombo, May 13, 2020 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed 11 years ago in combat with the armed forces of Sri Lanka on 19 May 2009. The longest war in South Asia came to an end after the… Read more »