Posts Categorized: Government

USTPAC Deeply Disturbed by Sri Lankan Justice Minister’s Statement

USTPAC Press Statement_Justice Minister War Crimes_160923 WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In an interview with BBC Sandeshaya, Sri Lankan Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe categorically rejected all allegations of war crimes committed by Sri Lanka’s armed forces and stated the government would take legal action against anyone who alleges the armed forces committed war crimes.  Furthermore, he said that anyone who… Read more »

A Broken System

by Raisa Wickrematunge, @raisalw, ‘Shorthand Social,’ no date, accessed September 7, 2016 It all started when Malaka* and Rohan* (names changed to protect identity) went to meet relations in Wattegama. Returning from the visit, they saw two policemen making off with their motorcycles, which they had parked on the main road. They confronted the officers, who began… Read more »

That Great Betrayal and Institutional Accountability

by Kishali Pinto Jqyawardene, ‘The Sunday Times,’ Colombo, September 4, 2016 Visiting United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s assertion that ‘much needs to be done in order to redress wrongs of the past and restore accountability of key organizations, particularly the judiciary and the security services’ raises an interesting question. Myopic framing of core… Read more »

UNSG: Sustaining Peace – Achieving the SDGs

by UN Secretary-General, Colombo, September 2, 2016 UN Secretary-General – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opfyKTCA_wM&feature=youtu.be Foreign Minister – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T32wo98qUCU https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2016-09-02/remarks-event-sri-lanka-sdg16-sustaining-peace-%E2%80%93-achieving 2 September 2016 Secretary-General’s remarks at event in Sri Lanka on SDG16: Sustaining Peace – Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals It is an honour to be here today to talk about the links between peace and sustainable development. This is my… Read more »

Deforestation Now Urgent Concern in Post-War Sri Lanka

By Johann Rebert, Asia Foundation, San Francisco, March 16, 2016 Following parliamentary elections in August 2015 and six years after the end of a bloody, decades-long civil war, Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, Maithripala Sirisena, has made the important decision to keep the Ministry of Environment directly under his wing. The move, which also positions the… Read more »

Looking for the Missing

by Jeevan Thiagarajah, ‘Daily News,’ Colombo, August 22, 2016 The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) was legislated. It has elicited words of appreciation from several quarters. In doing we may forget similar inquiries from the past. The JVP commenced its second insurrection in the South, purportedly in protest against the Indo-Lanka Accord. This was a… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s National Policy Document on Rehabilitation

by P.K. Balachandran, ‘The New Indian Express,’ August 22, 2016  COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Ministry of Rehabilitation has recommended, through its National Policy Document, the enactment of a comprehensive law that addresses all displaced persons and communities in order to be prepared for any eventuality in the future. The comprehensive policy document has recommended recognition… Read more »

INFORM – Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka

by INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre, Colombo, August 18, 2016 Full report at http://www.forum-asia.org/?p=21357 Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka August 17, 2015 – August 17, 2016 Introduction The January 2015 presidential elections didn’t just defeat Mahinda Rajapakse. It was an electoral rejection of Rajapakse politics and way of ruling by Sri Lankan people, ending also… Read more »

Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka

by M.C.M. Iqbal, ‘Groundviews,’ May 19, 2016 (This is an abridged version of a presentation made at a meeting at the University of London on 25th April, 2016. The full version can be read here) Enforced disappearance of persons remains one of the widely known human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The machinery that had… Read more »

CPA: Certificates of Absence

by Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, September 2015 CPA Certificates-of-Absence-FINAL ——————————– Sri Lanka to issue certificates of absence for missing persons by LankaBusinessOnline, June 8, 2016 The Cabinet of Ministers approved draft legislation enabling the issuance of Certificates of Absence enabling family of missing to address practical issues relating to their disappearance. The draft legislation which… Read more »

CHR June: What is Happening with the PTA Detainees

by Centre for Human Rights and Research Sri Lanka, Rajagiriya, Colombo, June 13, 2016 Centre for Human Rights and Research (CHR) Sri Lanka has unveiled its comprehensive report on the Prevention of Terrorism act (PTA) ‘What is happening with the detainees now? The forgotten political prisoners under the Yahapalanaya. In the report CHR puts the… Read more »

Consultation Task Force Releases Interim Report

Read the full report here: CTF Interim Report on Missing Persons or on their website The Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms Releases its Interim Report by Consultation Task Force, Colombo, August 2016 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of INTERIM REPORT The Office on Missing Persons Bill and Issues Concerning the Missing, the Disappeared and the Surrendered. This interim report… Read more »

UN Committee on Racial Discrimination Assessment of Sri Lanka Report

The UN Committee on Racial Discrimination (CERD) will assess Sri Lanka’s report submitted in October 2015 on August 15-16 2016 in Geneva.  CERD is a committee of 8 independent experts who assess progress of states parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.  The membership of the Committee can be seen… Read more »

Sangha and State

by Hannah Clare Durham, Bard College, USA, May 2015 Sangha and State An Examination of Sinhalese-Buddhist Nationalism Introduction While spending a semester studying in Sri Lanka, I became acutely aware of the post civil war issues that were being sorted out by the state. Daily newspapers displayed updates on new infrastructural developments and efforts to rebuild… Read more »

Some Options For Jaffna’s Economic Revival

by Kumar David, ‘Colombo Telegraph,’ July 31, 2016 My essay two weeks ago (“What Options for Jaffna Economic Revival?” on 17 July) was on the whole grim and pessimistic and it followed discussions outside the Northern Province with a NGO types, small investors and a potential venture capitalist. I had the good fortune a week… Read more »

Crafting a Coherent Sri Lankan Transitional Justice Process

by Prof. Ronald C. Slye, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo, July 31, 2016 Text of speech made at the 17th Neelan Tiruchelvam Memorial Lecture, 31st July 2016 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  It is one of the greatest honors of my professional life to be asked to deliver this lecture in honor of Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam.  Neelan embodied all of… Read more »

Sri Lankan Soldiers Acquitted over Massacre of Tamils

by ‘Tamil Guardian,’ London, July 27, 2016 Six former Sri Lankan army corporals were acquitted by a Sri Lankan court today over the rape and massacre of 24 Tamil civilians in Kumarapuram in 1996. The Sri Lankan soldiers were standing on trial over the involvement in the killings, which took place in the village in southern… Read more »

July 1983: Betrayal Of The Absolute Right To Justice

by Basil Fernando, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo, July 25, 2016 It has been 33 years since Black July, 1983. These 33 years have been part of our lifetime. We have witnessed not only the horrendously criminal acts of July 1983, but also what happened by way of justice after those serious crimes. I would like to illustrate… Read more »