by People for Equality & Relief in Lanka, March 11, 2019 Pulmoaddai is a majority Tamil-speaking, Muslim town in the Trincomalee District. The town, part of the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat, is located on the border to the Mullaithivu District, occupying the strategically important region which links the traditional Tamil homeland’s northern and eastern regions. The… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
A Plea for Helping Tamil Women in Sri Lanka in Their Search for Justice
On International Women’s Day by Usha Sriskandarajah, March 10, 2019 As the world marks International Women’s Day, my thoughts are with Tamil women back in the homeland. Tamil women and girls in the island of Sri Lanka once known as Ceylon have been fighting against oppression, against marginalization, against violence, against the relentless persecution of… Read more »
The Need for Accountability in Sri Lanka’s Criminal Justice System
A Glance at Seven Emblematic Cases by Centre for Policy Analysis, Colombo, March 1, 2019 This report examines seven emblematic cases to evaluate the levels of accountability in the prosecution of cases of human rights violations within Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system. The report is structured in three parts. First, it establishes several recurrent trends… Read more »
Strawmanning Terror
Attempting to justify the Counter Terrorism Act By Mass Movement for Social Justice, ‘Daily FT,’ Colombo, February 27, 2019 The current President and Government were elected in 2015 on the promise of repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Since enactment in 1979, the PTA has been widely condemned for creating a draconian system featuring… Read more »
ITJP: High Time for Sri Lanka to Investigate Well-known Alleged Perpetrators of Torture
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, February 25, 2019 Original as a Word document under Press Releases at http://www.itjpsl.com/ Johannesburg: If Sri Lanka is serious about tackling ongoing torture it needs to suspend and investigate a number of well known security officials named in United Nations reports in connection with torture. Vague… Read more »
ITJP: Ongoing Torture
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, February 22, 2019 http://www.itjpsl.com/reports/ongoing-torture-update The ITJP has taken statements from 76 Tamils who say they were tortured – and in many cases sexually violated as well – in illegal detention from 2015-17 in Sri Lanka. More than fifty of these victims have been granted asylum now in the… Read more »
Freedom from Torture: Too Little Change
Ongoing Torture in Security Operations in Sri Lanka by Freedom from TortPosture, London, February 20, 2019 Ten years on from the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Freedom from Torture has documented evidence of torture of its Tamil citizens in the context of ongoing security operations. This is despite the Sri Lankan government’s stated ‘zero… Read more »
Lanka’s Tamil-dominated North Observes Shut Down over Justice for Disappeared Persons
by PTI via The New Indian Express, February 25, 2019 At a well-attended gathering in Kilinochchi, the former LTTE stronghold, the protestors said they had no faith in any local probe and wanted the internationally-supervised process of accountability. COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Tamil-dominated northern province observed a complete shut down on Monday with protestors demanding justice… Read more »
ICJ: Written Statement to HRC
by International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, February 7, 2019 Full statement The ICJ has submitted a written statement on Sri Lanka to the Human Rights Council ahead of its 40th Session in Geneva. Almost ten years after Sri Lanka emerged from a period of conflict and massive human rights violations, the Government of Sri Lanka still… Read more »
NE Civil Society Letter to HCHR
by North East civil society, January 30, 2019 2019_january_tamil_mothers_to_michelle_bachelet Your Excellency, Re: Your Report to the UNHRC in March 2019 on Sri Lanka We the undersigned civil society groups, in particular from the North and East of Sri Lanka, members of war victims’ associations, other likeminded organisations and individuals concerned about the current state of… Read more »
ITJP: Shavendra Silva Dossier
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, January 29, 2019 http://www.itjpsl.com/reports/shavendra-silva Full dossier (Sangam mirror) ENGLISH தமிழ் සිංහල This is a dossier on Major General Shavendra Silva – appointed Chief of Army Staff of the Sri Lankan Army in January 2019. Shavendra Silva was arguably the most important frontline ground commander in the 2008-9… Read more »
Amnesty: Flickering Hope
Truth, Justice, Reparations & Guarantees of Non-recurrence by Amnesty International, London, January 24, 2019, Index number: ASA 37/9715/2019 In 2015, Sri Lanka co-sponsored Resolution 30/1 at the UN Human Rights Council to demonstrate the newly elected government’s commitment to break with impunity for a past marked by serious human rights violations. While the Resolution was welcomed… Read more »
HRW: “Why Can’t We Go Home?”
Military Occupation of Land in Sri Lanka by Human Rights Watch, New York, October 9, 2018 https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/10/09/why-cant-we-go-home/military-occupation-land-sri-lanka Summary On April 29, 2017, the Sri Lankan navy high command announced it would release 100 acres of land that security forces had been occupying in the Mullikulam area since 2007 to the original owners. For the displaced… Read more »
Time to Deliver Justice
For War Victims in Sri Lanka UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL’S MARCH 2019 SESSIONS By: Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The 40th Sessions of Human Rights Council is scheduled to be held in Geneva from February 22nd to March 22, 2019. This Session assumes greater importance… Read more »
ITJP: Counting the Dead in Sri Lanka
To memorialize the dead, count them & strengthen the case for genocide. – Editor Counting the Dead form by International Truth & Justice Project & Human Rights Data Analysis Group, South Africa & San Francisco, January 7, 2019 Counting the Dead form in Tamil [Tamil description below] HRDAG and ITJP are working on a project… Read more »
HRDAG Report On Disappeared Tamils In Army Custody In Sri Lanka
by Christine Grillo, Human Rights Data Analysis Group, December 12, 2018 HRDAG-ITJPSL-2018-12-12-1 Today, in collaboration with the International Truth and Justice Project, HRDAG has published a report about the 500 Tamils who disappeared while in Army custody in Sri Lanka in 2009. The report is titled “How many people disappeared on 17-19 May 2009 in Sri Lanka?”… Read more »
Release of Land
Sri Lanka Army had released over 69,000 acres of land in North and East since 2009 by ColomboPage, December 17, 2018 Sri Lanka Army said over 69,000 acres of land that was used by the Army in the North East following the end of the war had been released since 2009. The Army said since… Read more »
ICES: Sex Ratio and Vulnerability in Northern and Eastern Provinces in Sri Lanka
by Kalinga Tudor Silva, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, 2018 ICES Sex-Ratio-and-Vulnerability-Book-No-2 Comparing the results of 1981 and 2012 population censuses in Sri Lanka, thecurrent study examined the impact of the war on the population dynamics in theNorthern and Eastern provinces with a focus on changes in the sex ratio. The sexratio in the… Read more »
Prevention of Terrorism Act No. 48 of 1970 [Certified on 20th July 1979]
See also https://www.sangam.org/2008/05/Sieghart2_1984.php & https://www.icj.org/ethnic-conflict-and-violence-in-sri-lanka-report-of-a-mission-to-sri-lanka-in-july-august-1981-on-behalf-of-the-international-commission-of-jurists-with-a-supplement-by-icj-staff-for-the-period-1981-1/ — Ed/ By: Kumarathasan Rasingam PTA: A true example of draconian legislation? Under Section 9 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), people can be arrested in the absence of formal charges filed against them and can be detained for up to 18 months under a detention order issued by the Minister… Read more »
ICJ 1981 – Ethnic Conflict & Violence in Sri Lanka
by Virginia Leary, International Commission of Jurists, 1981, with a supplement 1981-1983 https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/1983/08/Sri-Lanka-ethnic-conflict-and-violence-fact-finding-mission-report-1983-eng.pdf Ethnic conflict and violence in Sri Lanka: report of a mission to Sri Lanka in July-August 1981, with a supplement for the period of 1981-1983 AUGUST 1, 1983 In view of the events of July – August 1983 in Sri Lanka, the… Read more »