By Kate Cronin-Furman, ‘The Washington Post,’ August 30, 2017 One of the mothers of the disappeared stands beside photographs of the missing in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, in July. (Kate Cronin-Furman) Early Tuesday morning, news broke that Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Brazil had fled the country. Sri Lanka’s government later announced that his departure was planned, and it… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Government
Sri Lankan Ambassador, Accused of War Crimes, Leaves Brazil
by The Associated Press in ”The New York Times,’ August 29, 207 RIO DE JANEIRO — A former Sri Lankan general accused of war crimes by human rights groups has left Brazil, where until recently he was his country’s ambassador to six nations in South America, an embassy official said Tuesday. Jagath Jayasuriya left Brazil… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Holds Federation is Not Separation
Court dispels doubts By: Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [Lond.] FCII, August 27, 2017 Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka President: Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Priyasath Dep delivered a politically historical judgement on August 4, dispelling the doubts and paranoia of some Sinhalese extremist… Read more »
The Sri Lankan Supreme Court’s on the Proscription of the Federal Party
More than meets the eye? By Dr Asanga Welikala, ‘ConstitutionNet,’ Sweden, 29 August, 2017 The Sri Lankan Supreme Court has determined that the advocacy of federalism is not tantamount to the advocacy of secession. In doing so, it has for the first time recognised the Tamil minority as a ‘people’ entitled to the right to internal self-determination…. Read more »
HRW: Recurring Nightmare State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka
by Human Rights Watch, March 5, 2008 2008 statement on report and at https://www.hrw.org/news/2008/03/06/sri-lanka-disappearances-security-forces-national-crisis Summary (see below) Who Is Responsible? Who Is Being Targeted? Unpunished Crimes The Government’s Response International Response Key Recommendations Note on Methodology II. Background The armed conflict History of “disappearances” in Sri Lanka III. Legal Framework Sri Lanka’s obligations under international law Sri Lankan… Read more »
Amnesty: “Disappearances & Political Killings: Human Rights Crisis of the 1990s’
A MANUAL FOR ACTION by Amnesty International, London, September, 1993 Amnesty 1993 disappearance murder as techniques of counterinsurgency asa370131993en Sri Lanka: “Disappearance” and murder as techniques of counter-insurgency EXTERNAL (for general distribution) AI Index: ASA 37/13/93 Distr: SC/CO/CC No. of words: 4700 ————————- Amnesty International International Secretariat 1 Easton Street London WC1X 8DJ United Kingdom… Read more »
Case Involving Navy in Abductions Takes Dramatic Turn
Secret Navy Team Behind White Van Ransom Abductions (see below) All websites accessed 8/28/17 […] the abductors had wanted one of the students- Rajiv Naganathan’s parents to cough up a Rs. 10 million ransom which had been negotiated down to one million rupees. The abductors had told the Naganathan family that the money is required… Read more »
Mahaweli & Demographic Change
1. Sri Lankan president to issue 10,000 deeds to Mahaweli settlers by ‘TamilGuardian,’ London, August 10, 2017 Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena is to issue 10,000 deeds to settlers this week under the Mahaweli development project, a controversial scheme that Tamils have criticised as Sinhala colonisation. According to the official President’s Media Division, deeds are to… Read more »
GTF Calls for Concerted Attempts to Address Accountability Issues in Sri Lanka
12 August 2017, London Global Tamil Forum calls for concerted attempts by all concerned to address accountability issues in Sri Lanka GTF calls for concerted attempts by all concerned to address accountability issues in Sri Lanka The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) is dismayed that more than eight years after the end of war, Sri Lanka… Read more »
Adayaalam: Understanding ‘Dealing with the Past’ and ‘Transitional Justice’
by Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, Jaffna, June 30, 2017 ACPR designed a short 10-page introductory booklet on ‘Dealing with the Past and Transitional Justice’ building off of ACPR’s previous ‘Introduction to Transitional Justice’ booklet. The booklet was commissioned by activists in the North-East working on running introduction to transitional justice workshops for grassroots communities…. Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Latest Counter-terrorism Proposals
Old wine in new bottles by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice, London, Jul7 21, 2017 https://www.srilankacampaign.org/old-wine-new-bottles-sri-lankas-latest-counter-terrorism-proposals/ http://fhr.org.za/files/3914/9760/6825/FHR_ICLA_-_Review_of_the_PLFCTA_13_June_2017_FINAL.pdf Last Friday, the UN Special Rapporteur (SR) on Human Rights and Counter Terrorism, Ben Emmerson QC, issued a statement of findings upon the conclusion of his visit to Sri Lanka. You can read it in full here…. Read more »
Voluntary, Safe and Sustainable Return
Support Needed for Sri Lankan Refugees by Mayuran Jeevarathnina, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo, August 9, 2017 Editor’s Note: A version of this speech was delivered by the author at the UNHCR Annual Consultations with NGOs, held from June 14-16 at the International Conference Centre in Geneva “O our motherland, bid us a farewell We buried our smiles in… Read more »
Netherlands-Funded CEPA Project Wages Political ‘Counter-Insurgency’
On Diaspora, elected NPC Colombo Establishment and its global backers are trying to isolate the Northern and Eastern provincial councils by intervening through Colombo-based authorities, ministries and departments coming under the Central Government. Certain NGOs operating in Colombo also operate in the same manner. There is also a hidden agenda of diverting ‘post-war development assistance’,… Read more »
HRW: Minister Threatens Defender of Minority Rights
by Human Rights Watch, New York, June 19, 2017 Investigate, Prosecute Attacks on Muslims, Christians (New York) – The Sri Lankan government should immediately repudiate statements by the country’s justice minister threatening to disbar a prominent lawyer for speaking out against attacks on religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said today. The incident highlights the government’s… Read more »
Normalising the Abnormalcy
Reflections on Self-Determination, Justice and Peace in Post-War Sri Lanka by Prof. K. Guruparan, Melbourne, Australia, June 12, 2017 Text of the Mamanithar Late Prof C.J. Eliezer AM Memorial Lecture delivered on 12 June 2016 at the Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne I am deeply honoured by this invitation to deliver the Maamanithar Prof Christopher Jeyaratnam… Read more »
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
On her mission to Sri Lanka Put into general distribution on March 23, 2017 Available online at http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/35/31/Add.1 Report of the SR Independence Judges Lawyers Mar 2017 Website of the Special Rapporteur Prevention of Terrorism Act 70. At the time of writing, the Prevention of Terrorism Act had not yet been repealed, despite repeated calls for… Read more »
Submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
by Minority Rights Group International (MRG), the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) and Women Development Innovators (WDI), May 11, 2017 *** Sri Lanka: Issues of land and sea grabbing on minorities brought to UN In order to reflect the current situation of minorities in Sri Lanka, IMADR, Minority Rights Group International (MRG)… Read more »
Biting the Bullet
Demilitarizing Economic Relations in Post-War Sri Lanka by Law and Society Trust, Colombo, May 2017 Biting the Bullet 20170508 The Law & Society Trust (LST) is a not-for-profit organisation engaged in human rights documentation, legal research and advocacy in Sri Lanka. Our aim is to use rights-based strategies in research, documentation and advocacy in order… Read more »
FHR: Provisional Comments on Sri Lanka’s Draft CTA
by Prof. Christof Heyns & Toby Fisher, Foundation for Human Rights, Institute for Internationa and Comparative Law in Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa, April 18, 2017 SRI_LANKAS_DRAFT_COUNTER_TERRORISM_ACT_-_PUBLICATION_DRAFT_-_18_APRIL_2017 CONCLUSION 35. Whilst the amendments made to the 2016 Draft are to be welcomed, the current PLFCTA contains a number of features that are inconsistent with the international human… Read more »
SACLS: CEDAW Report & Transitional Justice
by South Asian Centre for Legal Studies blog, Colombo, March 10, 2017 With the commemoration of international women’s day this week, we must remember that the transitional justice agenda, which was in many countries advanced by courageous and resilient women activists, must be situated within a broader human rights framework. The CEDAW report, also published… Read more »