by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, March 2, 2022 UN human rights experts* have called for an immediate moratorium on the use of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and urged the Government to substantively review and revise the legislation to comply with international human rights law. “There is a… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
Verité: Res. 30/1 Implementation Monitor
by Verité Research, Colombo, February 2021 Implementation Status UNHRC Res.30.1 Feb 2021 Verite This brief contains an updated analysis of progress since UNHRC’s Resolution 30/1 passed in September 2015.
UN High Commissioner for HR Report on Sri Lanka
by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/49/9, Geneva, February 25, 2022 20220225 UNHCHR Report on Sri Lanka Human Rights Council Forty-ninth session 28 February–1 April 2022 Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Promoting reconciliation,… Read more »
Amnesty: End the Use of and Repeal the Draconian PTA
by Amnesty International, London, February 18, 2022 Index Number: ASA 37/5241/2022 Amnesty Repeal PTA Feb 18 2022 43 years since it was first passed as a temporary measure, the draconian PTA continues to be used by the Government of Sri Lanka to target, and harass minorities, activists, journalists and critical voices. Despite assurances to amend… Read more »
British War Crimes Police Arrest Man Over Murder of Tamil Journalist in Jaffna
by Tamil Guardian, London, February 24, 2022 The Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team have arrested a 48-year-old man in Britain over the murder of Tamil journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan in Jaffna more than 20 years ago – marking the first time that British authorities have made an arrest over war crimes committed in Sri Lanka. In… Read more »
Universal Jurisdiction — the Most Difficult Path
To Achieve Justice in Sri Lanka by Andreas Schuller, JustSecurity, New York, February 24, 2022 (Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series on the spotlight to be placed on allegations of war crimes and other abuses in Sri Lanka during the Feb. 22 to March 23, 2021, session of the United Nations Human Rights… Read more »
It’s Time for the Human Rights Council to Act on Sri Lanka
Former UN High Commissioner Pillay Says by Laurel B. Fletcher, JustSecurity, New York, February 15, 2022 (Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series on the likely spotlight to be placed on allegations of war crimes and other abuses in Sri Lanka during the next session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, beginning Feb…. Read more »
HRW: Sri Lanka’s Failure to Reform the Prevention of Terrorism Act
“In a legal black hole” by Human Rights Watch, New York, February 7, 2022 February 7, 2022 News Release Sri Lanka: Grave Abuses Under Discredited Law Summary Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has been used for over 40 years to enable prolonged arbitrary detention, to extract false confessions through torture, and to target minority… Read more »
Trilingual Blunders
Signboards, Social Media, and Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Publics by Prof. Christina P. Davis, Signs & Society, Volume 8, Number 1, Winter 2020 ABSTRACT In Sri Lanka all public signs are required by law to be in Sinhala, Tamil, and English. This article investigates the multiple, clashing ways that Sri Lankan Tamil speakers (Tamils and… Read more »
What Makes Amnesty’s Apartheid Report Different?
by Maureen Clare Murphy, The Electronic Intifada, February 3, 2022 What makes Amnesty International’s new report determining that Israel practices the crime of apartheid against Palestinians any different from those that came before it? Certainly, Israel’s “hysterical” reaction – (in the words of one Haaretz headline) – to the Amnesty study is notably different from its relatively understated response to similar… Read more »
Jailing Activists & Pardoning Murderers
Monitoring ten issues of concern in Sri Lanka in 2021 by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice, February 2022 Read the full report as a PDF Monitoring issues of concern In March 2021, the UN Human Rights Council passed Resolution 46/1: Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. The resolution identified ten… Read more »
Abolishing PTA is the Only Way Out
by Basil Fernando, Groundviews, February 2, 2022 The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Bill, a bill to amend the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 (PTA), has been gazetted by the order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The proposed amendment still leaves much that has been criticized as dangerous… Read more »
UN Human Rights Chief Welcomes Sri Lanka Report
Urges further investigation into conduct of final stages of the war Pillay on Sri Lanka by UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, 26 April 2011 GENEVA (26 April 2011) — The High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday welcomed the public release of the report of the Secretary-General’s Panel… Read more »
HRW: Minorities, Activists Targeted
Actions Contradict Pledges of Legal Reform by Human Rights Watch, New York, January 13, 2022 The Sri Lankan government in 2021 suppressed minority communities, harassed activists, and undermined democratic institutions, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2022. The government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa failed to carry out legal reforms promised to its international partners… Read more »
Taking the Military to Task with International Sanctions
by Groundviews, January 17, 2022 Interview with Ms. Yasmine Sooka, head of International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa While Sri Lanka grapples with an inevitable economic meltdown, the international community has not forgotten the country’s obligations to move towards a reconciled society through the process of transitional justice. One of the requirements for sustainable… Read more »
Mystery of the Murder of an American Priest in Batticaloa
The truth that came out 30 years later! [translated from the Tamil by Google Translate with some edits] by Niraj David, TamilWin, ~December 15, 2021 His name was Rev Fr. Eugene John Hebert. The locals affectionately call him Father Haybier. He belonged to Congregation of Jesus Christ of America and was a famous human rights… Read more »
TG: Getting Serious on Sri Lanka
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, December 15, 2021 Last week, the United States announced long-overdue travel restrictions on two more accused Sri Lankan war criminals. The move is a step in the right direction and will be welcomed across the globe by those who seek justice on the island. It serves as a reminder to the Sri Lankan… Read more »
PEARL: Renewed U.S. Focus on Sri Lanka
Culminates in Targeted Sanctions for Human Rights Violations by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, December 15, 2021 Washington D.C.; December 15, 2021 — PEARL welcomes the sanctions of Chandana Hettiarachchi and Sunil Ratnayake by the United States under section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for their… Read more »
SL Campaign: ‘Inhumane and Degrading’ Living and Working Conditions
In Sri Lanka: UN expert by Sri Lanka Campaign, London, December 16, 2021 Dec 16, 2021 On 3 December 2021, the UN’s expert on Contemporary forms of Slavery, Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata, published the preliminary findings from his recent visit to Sri Lanka. Whilst he acknowledged some of the progress that Sri Lanka had made regarding… Read more »
TLHR Hearing: Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka
by Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, US House of Representatives, Washington, DC, December 8, 2021 Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka | Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (house.gov) Announcement Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic multi-religious state that… Read more »