and the Call for Eelam Tamil Self-Determination by Sahithyan Thilipkumar, December 2023 Master Thesis at University of Zurich’s Faculty of Law Master_Thesis_Sahithyan_Thilipkumar_ZORA 6. Conclusion Contemporary discussions on the conflict in Sri Lanka often start with the country’s independence or the beginning of the war. My thesis examined how the basis of the conflict was laid… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Government
Thousands Still Living without Land Deeds in Mannar
by Tamil Guardian, London, August 7, 2024 The issues faced by the people in Mannar due to the occupation of land has left thousands feeling helpless, said Fr. S. Marcus, President of the Mannar Citizens Committee. “For the last five years, there has been much effort by various private companies to lay claim for a… Read more »
Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence 1983
by Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence (1981-1984), Vol.I (Report), Colombo, dated September 2002, published April 24, 2003 Commission appointed July 23, 2001 by President Chandrika Kumaratunge Commissioners: Suppiah Sharvananda, Esq. (retired Chief Justice) Sathyaloka Sasita Sahabandu Esq., President’s Counsel Mohammed Mohammed Zuhair Esq., President’s Counsel Part 1 For… Read more »
CPA: Elusive Justice and Emblematic Cases in Sri Lanka
by Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, March 2023 CPA Elusive-Justice-and-Emblematic-Cases-in-Sri-Lanka-March 2023 INTRODUCTION Bhavani Fonseka In February 2023, victims who had filed habeas corpus cases in the High Court in Vavuniya had a small victory in their case with the judge making an order for the military to produce their family members who had surrendered to… Read more »
Why Truth Is a Radical Proposition
The Office on Missing Persons in Sri Lanka by Chulani Kodikara, International Journal of Transitional Justice, olume 17, Issue 1, March 2023, Pages 157–172 Kodikara OMP in Sri Lanka 2023 ABSTRACT In 2016, the Sri Lanka Parliament passed the Office on Missing Persons Act (OMP) ‘to search for and trace missing persons.’ At the time,… Read more »
TRC – a Sophisticated Get Out of Jail Free Card?
by Yasmin Sooka & Frances Harrison, Tamil Guardian, London, January 8, 2024 A rally in Jaffna in 2021, where Tamils demanded Sri Lanka be referred to the International Criminal Court. Sri Lanka has published a bill to establish a Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation. Though the bill superficially appears to tick several boxes for… Read more »
‘A Showpiece Gesture’: Strategic Legitimation and Commissions of Inquiry in Sri Lanka
by Moira Lynch, Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Seoul, Korea, Vol.11, No.2, 2023 pp.1-25 Abstract The Sri Lankan government implemented commissions of inquiry between 1977 and 2010. Though several commissions of inquiry produced comprehensive accounts of the violence in Sri Lanka’s civil war, and offered thorough recommendations, they rarely resulted in policy reforms or accountability. What… Read more »
Wigneswaran Points Out the Root Cause of Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict
Many Sinhalese consider Wigneswaran a racist and tend to ignore his views. But no matter how problematic it is, he points to the viewpoint prevailing in the Tamil society in general about the history of Sri Lanka. by P. Harshani Dias, Sri Lanka Guardian, Colombo, May 20, 2023 Colonial Architecture, Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka,… Read more »
President in the North, Governor in the East
by A. Nillanthan, January 13, 2024 [Translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate with improvements by the Sangam editor.] At the same time as the President visited the North to celebrate the New Year, his Governor in the East staged a huge cultural festival. The President met various people in the North: entrepreneurs, university… Read more »
In Defense of Sri Lanka’s Defense Budget
Reducing allocation for defense will require retrenching soldiers. Cutting loose angry youth with weapons skills is not what the crisis-ridden island needs now. [Sri Lanka has actually not done any de-commissioning since the end of the war 15 years ago, using exactly this excuse. Most of these impoverished soldiers have been deployed in the former… Read more »
2024 Budget
Prime focus on SOE reform and corruption [discusses budget going to the military – Ed/] by Daily FT, Colombo, November 14, 2023 President Ranil Wickremesinghe, as Finance Minister, yesterday presented the Budget for 2024, a year which will start the election cycle. The welfare allocation for 2024 is close to Rs. 200 billion compared to… Read more »
Dairy Farmers & Livestock Left in the Lurch!
by Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Ceylon Today, Colombo, October 1, 2023
ICJ: Parliamentary Privilege Used to Undermine Independence of the Judiciary
Sri Lanka by International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, August 30, 2023 The ICJ today expressed concern about attacks on the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka under cover of parliamentary privilege. On 22 August 2023, Sarath Weeresekera, a former Minister and a Member of Parliament belonging to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the country’s ruling political… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Flawed Plans for a ‘Truth Commission’
We, nine international human rights organizations, have grave reservations about the Sri Lankan government’s proposed National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. Our concerns echo many of those already raised by victims of conflict-related abuses and their families. by Amnesty International, London, September 4, 2023 Index Number: ASA 37/7165/2023 Statement signed by • Amnesty International • Asian… Read more »
Mass Graves & Failed Exhumations in Sri Lanka
by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, Families of the Disappeared, Centre for Human Rights & Development and International Truth & Justice Project, June 13, 2023 ITJP Mass Graves and Failed Exhumations June 2023 This joint report examines Sri Lanka’s record of dealing with mass graves from multiple periods of conflict. All over the island,… Read more »
Mass Graves & Failed Exhumations in Sri Lanka
by Center for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Families of the Disappeared (FoD), Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), Colombo, International Truth & Justice Project – Sri Lanka (ITJP), South Africa, June 13, 2023 This joint report examines Sri Lanka’s record of dealing with mass graves from multiple periods of conflict. All over the… Read more »
Defence Sector Claims Nearly Half of State Salaries
by PublicFinance.lk, June 2, 2023 According to the 2023 Budget Estimates, 15% of total recurrent expenditure of the government will be spent on salaries for government employees for the year 2023. As of 2023, the defence sector is estimated to claim nearly half (48%) of state salaries. Here is a breakdown of the estimated sector-wise… Read more »
Prez gives N-E Land Release Orders to Forest Dept.
Prez-Tamil MPs talks Forest Dept. to release N-E lands taken beyond limits demarcated in 1985 maps, Archaeology Dept. to rectify land acquisition errors by Buddhika Samaraweera, The Morning.lk, Colombo, May 24, 2023 President and National Policies Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued an order to release the lands in the Northern and Eastern Provinces that have… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s New Anti-terrorism Law is Old Wine in New Bottle
If torture is to be eradicated in Sri Lanka the institutions of the magistrate and police need to be reformed. by J.S. Tissaiyanagam, The Diplomat, Washington, DC, May 5, 2023 Sri Lanka’s government is desperate to quash dissent. It faces opposition on multiple fronts – people protesting onerous austerity measures to combat an economic crisis,… Read more »
The Smell of Terror
by Tissaranee Gunasekera, Groundviews, Colombo, April 23, 2023 “On land a tiger, in the water a crocodile.” A Bengali proverb In Sri Lanka terror means Tamil or Muslim. When the J.R. Jayewardene government responded to the ethnic problem not with the promised political reforms but with repression and the PTA was born, the concept of… Read more »