Posts Categorized: Human Rights

‘A Tale of Two Countries’

Sri Lanka & Singapore by Ajit Kanagasundram, Ravaya Publishers, Maharagama, Sri Lanka, 2018 ISBN : 978-955-7560-48-9 TABLE of CONTENTS Foreword – Deshamanya Tissa Devendra Author’s Preface – Ajit Kanagasundram Biography of Ajit Kanagasundram Chapter 1 : A tale of two countries Chapter 2 : The Gal Oya Project Chapter 3 : The Mother of All… Read more »

How the 1981 Riots Shaped My Future

by Vinorshan R., 47Roots.com, July 20, 2020 “This was my father’s lorry that he used for his business, he actually owned two of them and would deliver goods across Sabaragamuwa Province in Sri Lanka. He also owned two shops in Ratnapura. He was doing well in life. My father’s success in business allowed me to… Read more »

Anti-Tamil Riots of August 1977

by Dr. K. N. K. Wijayawardana, Sri Lanka Guardian, Colombo, November 28, 2008 “It was a struggle to keep the services going. Bodies were getting stacked almost to roof level and I had to get magisterial permission to dispose of them without inquest. Meantime the wife of the dead MLT was crying over the telephone… Read more »

Resisting Erasure

Tamil Guardian editorial, London, January 10, 2021 Art by Sagi Thilipkumar A new wave of protest has erupted in the Tamil homeland as a monument dedicated to the tens of thousands massacred in Mullivaikkal was razed from the Jaffna University campus under the cover of night. Students and locals gathered outside the campus gates while Sri Lankan Special… Read more »

UNHRC 46TH Session in February/March 2021

Judgement day for Sri Lanka and its War Victims by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM London, Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, December 25, 2020 The forthcoming 46th UNHRC Sessions in February/March 2021 holds the key to uphold accountability, justice and human rights in Sri Lanka while halting Sri Lanka’s history of evasions and… Read more »

Dr. Varatharajah Reports from Vanni Feb. 27, 2009

Video clips by Dr. Varatharajah Thurairajah on the situation at Puthu Matalan Hospital in the Vanni, Sri Lanka, while the area was under attack by Sri Lankan security forces, February 27, 2009 Translation provided where after each clip. 27-02-2009DR.Varatharaja-2 Amputee: 0:04  It is the pain. Otherwise it alright. Dr.V. They are coming from that end…. Read more »

‘Our Bodies, Their Battlefields’

War through the lives of women by Christina Lamb, Scribner, September 22, 2020 ISBN: 978-1-5011-9917-2 Kirkus Review, May 4, 2020 A searing, absolutely necessary exposé of the uses of rape in recent wars and of global injustices to the survivors. The chief foreign affairs correspondent for the London Sunday Times shows the horrific effects of the mass… Read more »

The Disappearance of ‘Father Basketball’ in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka

Jesuit Missionaries in Post-Colonial Conflict Zones by Bernardo E. Brown, Journal of South Asian Studies, November 15, 2015 Disappearance of ‘Father Basketball’ in Batticaloa 2015 Abstract In August 1990, Father Eugene John Hebert SJ disappeared while trying to reach his home in the Sri Lankan city of Batticaloa. Caught in the midst of the turmoil… Read more »

Rajapaksas Seek Sinhalese Supremacy in Sri Lanka

by Salman Rafi Sheikh, Asia Times, Hong Kong, December 3, 2020 Ruling clan is pushing new form of ethnic majoritarianism to marginalize and dominate historically restive Tamil minority With Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa clan back in power, the island nation is by any measure firmly back on a path to elected authoritarianism. But the Rajapaksas aspire… Read more »

ITJP & JDS: Dossier on Rear Admiral (Rtd.) Sarath Weerasekara

by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka & International Truth & Justice Project, Europe & South Africa, November 2020 rear-admiral-sarath-weerasekera August 2020: State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Affairs November 2020: Appointed as Minister of Public Security1 (with control over the Police department, Civil Security department, Police Training College and the Multi-Purpose Development… Read more »

Amnesty: Deliver Justice, Truth and Reparation to Families of the Disappeared

by Amnesty International, London, November 27, 2020 Following the announcement of the release of a list of complaints and information received by the Office on Missing Persons regarding people who were disappeared during Sri Lanka’s internal conflicts, the country’s authorities must now deliver justice, truth and reparation to the families, Amnesty International said today. On 26 November… Read more »

Rajapaksa Lied to ‘Powerful Ambassador’

Over evacuation of Tamils in 2009 – Sri Lankan MP by Tamil Guardian, London, November 24, 2020 File photograph: Mahinda Rajapaksa meets with former US Ambassador Robert O’Blake A Sri Lankan parliamentarian revealed how Mahinda Rajapaksa lied to “an ambassador of the most powerful country” about the evacuation of trapped Tamil civilians in 2009, in… Read more »

PTA: Terrorising Sri Lanka for 42 Years

Socio-economic and psychological impact on families of PTA detainees following the Easter Sunday Attacks by Marisa de Silva, Law & Society Trust, Colombo, November 2020 PTA_Terrorising-Sri-Lanka-for-42-years-English “When I was in prison, I met and spoke with other Tamil PTA prisoners, some who had been there for 10 years, with their files not even taken up… Read more »

Sinhalization of the North-East: Kankesanthurai (KKS)

by People for Equality & Relief in Lanka (PEARL), October 26, 2020 Sinhaliztion of the North East: Kankesanthurai (KKS) Kankesanthurai (KKS) is a historic port suburb located in the Northern Province of the island of Sri Lanka. Formerly known as Gayathurai, the region is encompassed by a natural harbour, famous for ancient sites, such as… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Militarised Coronavirus Containment has Grave Consequences

by Thusiyan Nandakumar | MedAct, October 16, 2020 | As states around the world continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, fears are mounting in many places for already disenfranchised and vulnerable communities. In Sri Lanka, a region that has been torn by decades of ethnic conflict and suffers from continued reports of human rights abuses, those… Read more »

Assessment of FaceBook’s HR Impact in Sri Lanka

by Chloe Poynton, Article One, San Francisco, May 12, 2020 In 2018, Article One partnered with Facebook to conduct two country-level human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) in Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Today, Facebook published the executive summaries of both reports, a step we applaud and hope to see more of. Understanding how online engagements can… Read more »

When Will the EU, US, UK & UNHRC Take Action

To find the missing? By; Kumarathasan Rasingam, October 12, 2020 The mothers, fathers, relatives of the missing are on the streets for more than 1340 days on sit-in protest demanding to know the whereabouts of their loved ones. They are holding EU, US & UN Flags and the pictures of their loved ones who are… Read more »

Review: ‘Keenie Meenie: Britain’s Private Army’

by Tamil Guardian, London, October 7, 2020 Streaming on YouTube, October 8, 2020 at 2pm EST at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZokBJZyVqk Phil Miler’s explosive new documentary, “Keenie Meenie: Britain’s Private Army”, provides detailed insight into how a private British company went on to effectively set up one of Sri Lanka’s most notorious military units and sheds light on the United… Read more »

Human Rights Half Measures: Avoiding Accountability in Postwar Sri Lanka

by Kate Cronin-Furman, Cambridge University Press’ World Politics journal, Vol. 72, Issue 1, November 11, 2019 Abstract Why do repressive states create human rights institutions that cost them money and political capital but fail to silence international criticism? The academic literature assumes that states engaging in disingenuous human rights behavior are hoping to persuade (or… Read more »