Posts Categorized: Human Rights

Sinhalization of the North-East: Seruwila-Verugal

by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), March 12, 2020 Sinhalization of the North-East: Seruwila – Verugal – People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (pearlaction.org) PEARL is launching the 3rd installment of its “Sinhalization of the North-East” series, this time focusing on Seruwila-Verugal. This series examines the scope and impact of the… Read more »

Pres. Gotabaya’s Twisted Accountability & Justice

By: Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM {London} Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and PRESIDENT, The Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Organization. President Gotabaya Rajapaksha’s pardon and release of former Army Sergeant Ratnayake who was sentenced to death in 2015 for the brutal murder of 8 Tamil civilians including children in December… Read more »

Justice in the Time of a Pandemic

by Ambika Satkunanathan, Groundviews, Colombo, March 29, 2020 ‘What physicians say about consumptive illness is applicable here: that at the beginning, such an illness is easy to cure but difficult to diagnose; but as time passes, not having been recognised or treated at the outset, it becomes easy to diagnose but difficult to cure.’ The… Read more »

Arbitrary Release of a Convicted Military Officer Calls for a Rethink

On international strategies on Sri Lanka by Global Tamil Forum, March 28, 2020 PRESS STATEMENT 28 March 2020, London  Arbitrary release of a convicted military officer calls for a rethink on international strategies on Sri Lanka The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) strongly condemns Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa’s decision to pardon and release Sunil Ratnayake, an… Read more »

TGTE: Sri Lanka Pardons a Soldier Sentenced to Death for Killing Tamil Civilians

by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, New York, March 27, 2020 Sri Lanka is the first country to take advantage of Coronavirus crisis to persecute a community.” — Visivanathan Rudrakumaran NEW YORK, USA, March 27, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ — While the World Reels from the Coronavirus, Sri Lankan President Instead Focuses on Perpetuating Immunity for Int’l… Read more »

OHCHR Press Briefing Note on Sri Lanka

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:  Rupert Colville Location: Geneva Date: 27 March 2020 Subject:  Sri Lanka We are troubled by reports that the convicted perpetrator of the Mirusuvil massacre, in Sri Lanka, has received a Presidential Pardon and was released from jail this week. Former Army sergeant Sunil Ratnayake was sentenced in 2015… Read more »

Sri Lankan Leader Frees Soldier Convicted in Civilian Deaths

by Associated Press in The New York Times, March 26, 2020 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s president on Thursday freed a soldier who was sentenced to death for killing eight civilians during the country’s civil war. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office said he pardoned Sunil Ratnayake and ordered the justice ministry to release him. Ratnayake… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

A military mindset by Thusiyan Nandakumar, The Polis Project, London, March 2020 This is part of a series of conversations interrogating militarization of medicine and public health and its adverse effects as various communities deal with COVID19. You can watch the video of this conversation with Dr Thusiyan Nandakumar on our Instagram handle  In the… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Sixth Amendment

a Violation of UN Charter and Fundamental Human Rights by Thambu Kanagasabai, PRESIDENT, The Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Organization Late President JR Jayewardene of Sri Lanka after allowing and being complicit in the massacres of Tamils in the 1977, 1983 pogroms and justifying them as a normal reaction of Sinhalese to take revenge… Read more »

ICRC 1995 Annual Report

by International Committee of the Red Cross, May 31, 1996 ICRC 1995 annual report for Sri Lanka    

Statement by the President on the Situation in Sri Lanka and Detainee Photographs

by US President Barack Obama, Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, Washington, DC, May 13, 2009 For Immediate Release                              May 13, 2009 STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE SITUATION IN SRI LANKA AND DETAINEE PHOTOGRAPHS South Drive 4:12 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Good to see… Read more »

Tsunami Disaster & the People in the Northeast

of the island of Sri Lanka by Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, December 29, 2004 Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation Media Release Press Conference at Swiss TRO Headquarters, Geneva “Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation has grave concerns that our ability to respond in a timely manner is being hindered by excessive administrative, bureaucratic and control requirements ”  Contact: Director, Disaster Management… Read more »

Banning of Silva is a Small Victory for Tamils

by Visvajit Sriramranjan, The Hofstra Chronicle, NY, February 25, 2020 Last week, Shavendra Silva, the chief of the Sri Lankan Army, was banned from entering the United States. Silva is a known war criminal who spearheaded the genocide of the Tamil people, an ethnic minority group native to southern India as well as northern and… Read more »

Report of the SR on Freedom of Religion to Sri Lanka

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session43/Pages/ListReports.aspx A/HRC/43/48/Add.2 Advance Unedited Version Distr.: General 28 February 2020   Original: English Human Rights Council Forty-third session 24 February–20 March 2020 Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Visit to Sri Lanka Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Evasion of UNHRC Resolutions

and defiling of human rights and accountability by: Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The United Nations Human Rights Council was established in 2006 by the UN to investigate allegations of human rights violations against member states. After investigations, it makes recommendations for implementation by the state… Read more »

HRW: UN Rights Council Should Uphold Sri Lanka Commitments

Weak Response from Country Core Group Ignores Victims’ Plight by John Fisher, Human Rights Watch, March 3, 2020 https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/03/un-rights-council-should-uphold-sri-lanka-commitments During his presidential campaign and after his election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa left little doubt that Sri Lanka would not enforce its commitments on justice and accountability agreed to at the United Nations Human Rights Council. So the foreign minister’s announcement… Read more »

ICJ: Justice & Accountability for Crimes under International Law in Sri Lanka

by International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, February 28, 2020 At the UN Human Rights Council, the ICJ today urged renewed international action to ensure justice and accountability for crimes under international law in Sri Lanka. The statement, delivered during a discussion of updates and reports from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, read as follows:… Read more »