by Ronnate Asirwatham, ‘Medium,’ May 28, 2019 The U.S. government’s hurried moves to expand military-to-military cooperation with Sri Lanka to fight terrorism after Easter Sunday’s bomb blasts is ill-advised because, Colombo’s counter-terrorism policies are shambles. Sri Lanka targets ethnic communities for acts of terrorist groups, and its military, enjoying impunity, uses torture as the main… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
What the Holocaust Can’t Teach Us about Modern-Day Genocide
Never Again? by Andrew Stroehlien, International Crisis Group, December 2, 2009 (originally published in ‘Foreign Policy’) It was cold, misty, and miserably wet the day we visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, but no one wished for better weather. My companions — mostly midlevel diplomats from more than a dozen countries around the world — all seemed to agree… Read more »
Congressional Caucus Briefing May 1 2019
by Congressional Caucus on Ethnic & Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka, Washington, DC, May 1, 2019
The Men Now Patrolling Sri Lanka
by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, Europe & International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, May 2019 http://www.jdslanka.org/images/documents/2019_may_the_men_%20now_patrolling_sri_lanka_itjp__jds.pdf On Easter Sunday 2019, a series of coordinated bomb blasts struck hotels and churches in Sri Lanka killing more than 250 people, including many tourists. The targets were churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa… Read more »
A State of Disorientation
Dispatch from Sri Lanka after the Easter Bombings by Anuk Arukpragasam, TIME, May 22, 2019 Anuk Arudpragasam is a novelist from Colombo and is the author of The Story of a Brief Marriage. In Colombo, as though there is war once more, the ominous presence of heavily armed soldiers is everywhere. Ever since the Easter Sunday bombings,… Read more »
Statements by US Congress on 10th Year after End of War in Sri Lanka
Rep. David Price (D-NC), Co-Chair House Democracy Partnership — Rep David Price Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day 2019 Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), Co-Chair of the Caucus on Ethnic & Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka —https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZYKeC4uMvc&feature=youtu.be Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Chair, Asia & Pacific Subcommittee — Rep. Brad Sherman statement end of war May 16 2019 &… Read more »
Sri Lankan Conflict Mapping Report
by Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Ltd., Sydney, Australia, May 14, 2019 Sri Lankan conflict mapping report highlights work to be done for transitional justice Media Releases Project highlights A decade since the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, a landmark report has been released detailing thousands of examples of reported human rights violations in… Read more »
Joint Statement on Sri Lanka by UN Special Advisers on Prevention of Genocide and Responsibility to Protect
Joint Statement by Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Karen Smith, United Nations Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, on attacks against religious minorities in Sri Lanka (New York, 13 May 2019) Recalling their recent statements against violent extremism and hate speech, the United Nations Special Adviser on… Read more »
A Decade After Failing to Stop Massacres in Sri Lanka
What has the UN learned? by Richard Gowan, World Politics Review, March 19, 2019 When faced with a crisis, U.N. officials grapple with two imperatives. There is the moral compulsion to protect the suffering. And there is the equal, and frequently greater, need to balance the interests of the power players involved. While outsiders lionize… Read more »
Cases Against Gotabaya Rajapakshe
Fighting for delayed accountability and justice by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Gotabaya Rajapakshe, who is a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and USA, flew back to Sri Lanka after the victory of Mahinda Rajapakshe as the President in 2005. He was appointed as the Defence Secretary… Read more »
What Happened in Sri Lanka? Here’s What You Need to Know
These attacks come at a precarious political moment. by Kate Cronin-Furman, The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage, April 23, 2019 Bombs ripped through three churches and four hotels in a series of attacks in Sri Lanka on Sunday morning. The casualty count currently stands at more than 300 dead and more than 500 injured. What do we know about the… Read more »
The Sri Lanka Attacks: New Front, Old Wounds
The bombings will fuel inter-communal tensions in Sri Lanka, which still struggles with the legacy of its civil war. by Mario Arulthas, Al Jazeera, April 22, 2019 OPINION /SRI LANKA The attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday for many brought back memories of the long ethnic war, which came to a bloody conclusion 10 years ago in… Read more »
‘Why Kill the Innocents?’ Sri Lankans Mourn Bombing Victims
by Jeffrey Gettleman and Dharisha Bastians, The New York Times, April 22, 2019 NEGOMBO, Sri Lanka — The little room, like much of Sri Lanka, could not hold any more grief. All day Monday, through the steamy heat, mourners quietly stepped inside and paused in front of a sealed coffin containing what was left of… Read more »
Understanding the Easter Sunday Attacks – and the Risks Ahead
by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice, London, April 22, 2019 At time of writing, 290 people are confirmed to have been killed following a series of blast attacks at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. Hundreds more have been injured.[1] The Sri Lanka Campaign condemns the appalling crimes that took place yesterday and stands… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Bloody Easter Puts Spotlight on a New Terror Threat
by Ishan Tharoor, Washington Post, April 22, 2019 A shocking, coordinated series of bombings on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka marked one of the world’s bloodiest terrorist attacks over the past half-decade. At least 290 people were killed and more than 450 others injured after suicide bombers exploded devices in three churches in the cities… Read more »
Attacks Evidence Sri Lanka Post-War but Not Post-Conflict Country
Ten years on from civil war, Sri Lanka has failed to reconcile religions and communities by Thamil Venthan Ananthavinayagan, ‘Irish Times,’ April 21, 2019 Sri Lanka’s past is one that is blood-soaked with violent chapters. On Sunday, another bloody chapter was added to the island’s history. A country of 21 million people, Sri Lanka shares many similarities… Read more »
For Christians in Sri Lanka, Violence is at Once Old and New
by Emily Tamkin, Washington Post, April 22, 2019 No group or individual has asserted responsibility for the attacks on churches and hotels that killed more than 290 people and injured more than 450 in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. But the suicide bombings on the holiest day of the Christian calendar, when churches see their highest attendance… Read more »
Sri Lankans Accuse Him of Wartime Atrocities
California May Decide. by Mike Ives and Dharisha Bastians, The New York Times, April 19, 2019 In the decade since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended, a former wartime defense chief has successfully dodged accusations of crimes against humanity. He may soon run for president. But the accusations, which are supported by United Nations inquiries, recently caught up… Read more »
UNHRC Resolution 40/1
And the pathetic plight of the victims of the war in Sri Lanka by Kumarathasan Rasingam, April 16, 2019 The UNHRC Resolution 40/1 was passed without voting giving another two years to Sri Lanka delay the implementation of UNHRC Resolution 30/1. In fact, Tamils are fully aware that Sri Lanka is finding ways and means… Read more »
Sampanthan Insists on Implementing UNHRC Resolution, Adopting New Constitution
As top priorities for Lanka by ‘The Island,’ Colombo, April 8, 2019 Former Opposition Leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan told Parliament, on Budget 2019 voting day, last Friday, that implementing of the UNHRC resolution and the adoption of a new constitution are two issues of utmost importance to the country today. Sampanthan’s statement: Before I commence my… Read more »