What the past (and future) of the Tamil version of the national anthem tells us about minority rights in Sri Lanka. by Dishani Senaratne, ‘The Diplomat,’ Washington, DC, November 22, 2019 Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former defense secretary and brother of ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, emerged victorious in Sri Lanka’s presidential election last Sunday. Gotabaya was largely backed… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Government
Civil War Along Ethnoreligious Lines
by Berkley Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, August 1, 2013 This case study addresses the underlying ethnic and religious tensions behind the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009), a conflict led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) on behalf of the Hindu Tamil minority against the Sri Lankan government and the Buddhist Sinhalese majority…. Read more »
Public Administration and Minority Language
The Case of District Administration in Amparai, Sri Lanka by Mohammad Agus Yusoff, Athambawa Sarjoon, Nordin Hussin & Azmi Awang, Public Administration Research; Canada, Vol. 4, No. 2; October 2015 ISSN 1927-517x E-ISSN 1927-5188 Abstract Even though minorities have gained international linguistic recognition, accepting and admitting minority languages in public affairs has been a contested issue in many countries. In… Read more »
World Bank: Making (De)centralization Work
by World Bank, Washington, DC, October 13, 2019 See Chief Economist for South Asia video summary here Full report here In a focus section, the report highlights how, as their economies become more sophisticated, South Asian countries have made decentralization a priority to improve the delivery of public services. With multiple initiatives underway across the… Read more »
Is Federalism a Solution?
by Bhimraj M, NUJS’ International Journal of Legal Studies and Research, Vol. 7, No.1, West Bengal, March 2018 Is Federalism a Solution Abstract The change of power in 2015 and Maithripala Sirisena becoming the President of Sri Lanka is said to have sowed hopes for a political solution to the ethnic conflict. But the President… Read more »
Reflection on the 13th Amendment
To the Constitution in light of settlement of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka by S. Dinesan, Jaffna, June 2016 Reflection on the 13th Amendment ABSTRACT Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religion and multi-language country even though it is a unitary state. The ethnic conflict is a major issue in the era. As with many civil… Read more »
ATC, CTC, BTF & USTAG: Sri Lanka’s Disappeared Must Have Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2019 Sri Lanka’s Disappeared Must Have Justice FINAL Sri Lanka’s Disappeared Must Have Justice Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), British Tamils Forum (BTF), Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and US Tamil Action Group (USTAG) once again on the International Day of the Disappeared draw attention to the large number of enforced disappearances… Read more »
PEARL: International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances
by People for Relief and Equality in Lanka, August 30, 2019 International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances (Washington, D.C.; August 30, 2019) – Today we mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. We stand with Tamil relatives of the disappeared who today marked Day 922 of their years-long protest for answers… Read more »
Slaughter of Tamil Prisoners inside High Security Jail
& Genocide of Tamils in July 1983 By: Kumarathasan Rasingam – Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org. Post independence Sri Lanka brought in several official dispositions that gave preference to the Sinhalese majority. The Sinhala Only Act introduced by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) government of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in… Read more »
US Millennium Challenge Corporation
by US Millennium Challenge Corporation, July 2019. Pictures from US Amb. Teplitz’s Twitter feed, July 30, 2019 The land project will initially focus on districts in the Central, North-Western, North-Central and Eastern Provinces. Highlights of MCC Compact Scorecard FY19 More info, including 2017 Constraints Analysis
Amended US Complaint on Torture
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Hausfeld & Co., LLP, Washington, DC, June 27, 2019 Rajapaksa-First-Amended-Complaint-Docket-No-35-6.26.19 27-June-2019-press-release on Amended Complaint TEN SRI LANKANS SUE PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL GOTABAYA RAJAPAKSA FOR HIS ROLE IN TORTURE (Johannesburg, South Africa/Washington, DC) – June 27, 2019 Sri Lanka’s presidential hopeful, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, faces ten new… Read more »
Canadian House of Commons Passes Motion re Genocide of Tamils
by Canadian Parliament, June 19, 2019 https://openparliament.ca/debates/2019/6/19/cheryl-hardcastle-1/ (halfway down page) Sri Lanka Oral Questions June 19th, 2019 / 3:15 p.m. Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and I am hopeful that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: That the House, (a) extend its… Read more »
The Men Now Patrolling Sri Lanka
by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, Europe & International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, May 2019 http://www.jdslanka.org/images/documents/2019_may_the_men_%20now_patrolling_sri_lanka_itjp__jds.pdf On Easter Sunday 2019, a series of coordinated bomb blasts struck hotels and churches in Sri Lanka killing more than 250 people, including many tourists. The targets were churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa… Read more »
‘Collective Responsibility, Vital to Address Issues’
by Anuradha Kodagoda, The Sunday Observer, Colombo, April 28, 2019 A series of coordinated bombings on Easter Sunday shattered a relatively calm period in the country, threatening to restore factional tensions that fueled a three- decade civil war. The government has acknowledged major lapses in governance and its failure to prevent the dreadful Easter Sunday… Read more »
What Happened in Sri Lanka? Here’s What You Need to Know
These attacks come at a precarious political moment. by Kate Cronin-Furman, The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage, April 23, 2019 Bombs ripped through three churches and four hotels in a series of attacks in Sri Lanka on Sunday morning. The casualty count currently stands at more than 300 dead and more than 500 injured. What do we know about the… Read more »
There is a Thread Running Through Sri Lanka’s Cycles of Violence
Sri Lanka’s minorities – including its Christians and Muslims – have paid a high price for the state’s failure to protect them by Farah Mihlar, The Guardian, UK, April 23, 2019, modified April 24, 2019 As mass burials for some of the Christian worshippers killed in the Easter Sunday bombings take place today, claims that the… Read more »
The Sri Lanka Attacks: New Front, Old Wounds
The bombings will fuel inter-communal tensions in Sri Lanka, which still struggles with the legacy of its civil war. by Mario Arulthas, Al Jazeera, April 22, 2019 OPINION /SRI LANKA The attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday for many brought back memories of the long ethnic war, which came to a bloody conclusion 10 years ago in… Read more »
Understanding a State of Emergency
by Dr. Asanga Welikala, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, March 2018 Sri Lanka’s last state of emergency lasted for 28 years, and was terminated in August 2011, having continuously been extended by governments since it was first declared in 1983. On March 6th 2018, President Maithripala Sirisena declared a state of emergency in order to address and contain the violence… Read more »
Sri Lankans Accuse Him of Wartime Atrocities
California May Decide. by Mike Ives and Dharisha Bastians, The New York Times, April 19, 2019 In the decade since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended, a former wartime defense chief has successfully dodged accusations of crimes against humanity. He may soon run for president. But the accusations, which are supported by United Nations inquiries, recently caught up… Read more »
Sampanthan Insists on Implementing UNHRC Resolution, Adopting New Constitution
As top priorities for Lanka by ‘The Island,’ Colombo, April 8, 2019 Former Opposition Leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan told Parliament, on Budget 2019 voting day, last Friday, that implementing of the UNHRC resolution and the adoption of a new constitution are two issues of utmost importance to the country today. Sampanthan’s statement: Before I commence my… Read more »