Funding Varadakumar’s Last Project

Tamils of Sri Lanka – A Timeless Heritage Dear friends, We at TIC have had many requests about how the community can contribute to Varadakumar’s legacy.At the time of his death, Varadakumar was working hard to organise an exhibition to memorialise the end of the war, to be held in Tolworth Recreation Centre on 18-19… Read more »

Remembering V. Varadakumar (1949-2019)

by Virou Srilangarajah, Institute of Race Relations, London, March 21, 2019 The Tamil community has lost a valiant fighter. Just one year after the passing of A. Sivanandan (Siva), the Tamil community suffered another devastating loss with the sudden death of human rights activist and community organiser Vairamuttu Varadakumar. Friends found him at his home… Read more »

Another Admiral in Abduction Racket

Another Admiral to be docked as CID busts spin-off Navy abduction racket by Maneshka Borham, Sunday Observer, Colombo, March 24, 2019 News Features The now famous CID investigation into the abduction and murder of 11 youth by a Navy extortion gang, helped sleuths to break open a secondary racket involving a separate group of naval… Read more »

Verité: Res. 30/1 Implementation Monitor

by Verité Research, Colombo, March 2019 https://www.veriteresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Verite-Research_UNHRC-Monitor-No4-March-2019.pdf This brief contains an updated analysis of progress since February 2018. Background……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Resolution 30/1: Implementation Status……………………………………………………………… 1. Transitional Justice and Reconciliation…………………………………………………. 2. Rights and Rule of Law………………………………………………………………………… 3. Security and Demilitarisation……………………………………………………………… 4. Power Sharing………………………………………………………………………………………. 5. International Engagement…………………………………………………………………. Resolution 30/1: Overall Status of Implementation………………………………….. Annex 1: Implementation Status… Read more »

Sri Lanka Tamils Demand Foreign Judges in War Crimes Probe

by AFP in ChannelNewsAsia, March 22, 2019 UN WebTV  of FM Tilak Marapana saying Sri Lanka will not have hybrid court. 22 Mar 2019 05:51PMCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main minority Tamil party demanded Friday that foreign judges be included in a special court to investigate war crimes, a day after the UN again granted Colombo more… Read more »

Sri Lanka Refuses to Hand Back Military Occupied Land

By Athula Vithanage, Journalists for a Democratic Sri Lanka, Europe, March 22, 2019 UN WebTV  Thousands of acres of land occupied by the military in northern Sri Lanka will not be released to their rightful owners despite ongoing protests. Scores of war displaced Tamil families have been protesting for more than two years by the… Read more »

Six Major Tamil Diaspora Organisations Call for Accelerated Implementation

Six Major Tamil Diaspora Organisations Call for Accelerated Implementation of the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/six-major-tamil-diaspora-organisations-call-for-accelerated-implementation-of-the-unhrc-resolution-on-sri-lanka-300816975.html GENEVA, March 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), the British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), the Irish Tamils Forum (ITF), the New Zealand Tamil Society (NZTS), and the US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC)… Read more »

HRDAG: Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Conflict Mortality Study

Reality and risk: A refutation of S. Rendón’s analysis of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s conflict mortality study by Daniel Manrique-Vallier and Patrick Ball, ‘Research and Politics,’ January-March 2019 Abstract We refute S. Rendón’s recent criticism of the 2003 Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) conflict mortality study. We first show that his most… Read more »

From Sachi’s Files – Chapter 7

A Ban on showing the ‘Avvaiyar’ Tamil Movie – 40 Years Ago by Sachi Sri Kantha, March 12, 2019 While digging through my old diary entries, I came across a news item that mentioned about a public ban on showing the Avvaiyar Tamil movie of 1953 in Colombo. For historical record, I provide a scan… Read more »

Muslims in Post-War Sri Lanka

An Opportunity Lost for Conflict Transformation by A.R.M. Imtiyaz, S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, Amjad Mohamed Saleem, V. Ameerdeen, Journal of Arts & Humanities, Maryland, USA, 2015 Abstract This paper examines the post-war Sri Lankan conditions among Sri Lanka Muslims, also known as Moors. The article will attempt to argue that state concessions to Muslim political… Read more »

Why has Sri Lanka’s Transitional Justice Process Failed to Deliver?

by  Yasmin Sooka & Frances Harrison, London School of Economics Long Read blog, February 6, 2019 After persistent allegations of mass atrocities committed during the long running civil war, a new Sri Lankan Government in 2015 pledged to the international community that it would establish an ambitious reform and transitional justice programme. Four years later,… Read more »

Using Technology to Support Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka

by Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Sydney, Australia, February 19, 2019 “Information Overload: How Technology Can Help Convert Raw Data into Rich Information for Transitional Justice Processes” written by PIAC staff members Daniela Gavshon and Erol Gorur, was recently published in of the International Journal of Transitional Justice. The article draws on their experience working on PIAC’s… Read more »

Passing of Varathakumar

Head of  Tamil Information Centre, London, passed March 13, 2019 at home. http://www.thamilnaatham.media TIC 2011 – National Security Laws in Sri Lanka TIC 2008 – TIC Mourns Fr. Karunaratnam TIC 2007 – Abduction of Sinhalese Journalists TIC 2006 – Tamils of Sri Lanka: The Quest for Human Dignity TIC 2006 – The UN Human Rights… Read more »

Structural Genocide Continues in Sri Lanka

by Association Bharathi CCFT – Centre Culturel Franco Tamoul, Maurepas, France, in partnership with  Tamils’ Heritage Forum Sri Lanka, date not given Download PDF Content 1. Background 2. State aided colonization in East 3. Targeting the North 4. Mahaweli Project 4.1Mahaweli Authority 4.2 Mahaweli Authority Act No. 23 of 1979- provisions relating to land 4.3 Mahaweli ‘L’… Read more »

OHCHR Report on Sri Lanka 2019

by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, February 8, 2019 OHCHR Report on Sri Lanka 8 Feb 2019 Human Rights Council Fortieth session 25 February–22 March 2019 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… Read more »

SR Emmerson’s Report Annex to Visit to Sri Lanka

by Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism, March 2019 Human Rights Council Fortieth session 25 February–22 March 2019 Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Visit to Sri Lanka Report of the Special Rapporteur on the… Read more »

Sinhalization Of The North East: Pulmoaddai

by People for Equality & Relief in Lanka, March 11, 2019 Pulmoaddai is a majority Tamil-speaking, Muslim town in the Trincomalee District. The town, part of the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat, is located on the border to the Mullaithivu District, occupying the strategically important region which links the traditional Tamil homeland’s northern and eastern regions. The… Read more »

The Vanni – Civilian Land under Military Occupation

Displacement, Resettlement, Protests by Society of Threatened Peoples (STP) &  National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO), February 2018 STP sri-lanka-vanni-e-lang https://www.tamilguardian.com/sites/default/files/File/180301%20STP%20Report_Vanni_SriLanka_low.pdf https://www.gfbv.ch/wp-content/uploads/sri-lanka-vanni-e-lang.pdf https://www.gfbv.de/fileadmin/redaktion/UN-statements/2018/Sri-Lanka_HRC_Statement_February_2018_EingereichtvonGfbVSchweiz.pdf Oct. 28, 2018

A Plea for Helping Tamil Women in Sri Lanka in Their Search for Justice

On International Women’s Day by Usha Sriskandarajah, March 10, 2019 As the world marks International Women’s Day, my thoughts are with Tamil women back in the homeland. Tamil women and girls in the island of Sri Lanka once known as Ceylon have been fighting against oppression, against marginalization, against violence, against the relentless persecution of… Read more »