Posts Categorized: Human Rights

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 »

Channel 4: Sri Lanka – the Search for Justice 10 Years On

Dear Friend, We are pleased to share with you a powerful new short film, from the makers of the award-winning ‘No Fire Zone’ documentary, which re-visits the final stages of Sri Lanka’s civil war and considers the ongoing need for justice a decade on. The film, which the Sri Lanka Campaign helped to screen at a recent meeting… Read more »

Alternative Avenues

Tamil Guardian editorial, March 24, 2019 For almost a decade, Tamil victims have looked to the UN Human Rights Council in their pursuit of justice. However, after years of resolutions followed by an extension, alongside lack of any progress on accountability, events at Geneva this week brought another deep disappointment. A day after the Sri Lankan government… Read more »

Brother of Sri Lanka Ex-president Sued over Alleged Torture and Killings

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was defence secretary in last years of war against Tamil Tigers by Michael Safi, The Guardian, UK, April 9, 2019 The brother of the former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa is being sued in a US court over alleged extrajudicial killing and torture, by the same lawyers who successfully brought a civil suit… Read more »

AI: Release Lists of the Forcibly Disappeared

Sri Lanka: Release lists of the forcibly disappeared by Amnesty International , London, 18 May 2018 On the ninth anniversary of the end of the war, Amnesty International calls on the government of Sri Lanka to provide information to the families of the disappeared, with detailed lists and information of persons who surrendered to the… Read more »

Extending the Woes of Tamils

And evasion of accountability and justice by Sri Lanka by Thambu Kanagasabai,  LLM [London] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 1, 2019 At the much awaited 40th Session of the UNHRC, the Commissioner Her Excellency Michelle Bachelet released her Report on March 03 2019 and then made her oral statement on March… Read more »

India’s Statement at UNHRC

Statement by India at the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council (25 February – 22 March 2019) under Agenda Item 2: Interactive Dialogue with the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka, delivered by Ambassador Rajiv K. Chander, Permanent Representative of India [20 March 2019, Geneva] Mr. President We thank the High Commissioner for the report… Read more »

TNA Demands Inclusion of Foreign Judges in War Crimes Investigation

by AFP in The Hindu, March 22, 2019 ‘The state of Sri Lanka cannot be an independent arbiter’ Sri Lanka’s Tamil National Alliance (TNA) demanded on Friday that foreign judges be included in a special court to investigate war crimes, a day after the UN again granted Colombo more time for a much-delayed probe. With… Read more »

Remembering V. Varadakumar (1949-2019)

by Virou Srilangarajah, Institute of Race Relations, London, March 21, 2019 The Tamil community has lost a valiant fighter. Just one year after the passing of A. Sivanandan (Siva), the Tamil community suffered another devastating loss with the sudden death of human rights activist and community organiser Vairamuttu Varadakumar. Friends found him at his home… Read more »

Another Admiral in Abduction Racket

Another Admiral to be docked as CID busts spin-off Navy abduction racket by Maneshka Borham, Sunday Observer, Colombo, March 24, 2019 News Features The now famous CID investigation into the abduction and murder of 11 youth by a Navy extortion gang, helped sleuths to break open a secondary racket involving a separate group of naval… Read more »

Verité: Res. 30/1 Implementation Monitor

by Verité Research, Colombo, March 2019 https://www.veriteresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Verite-Research_UNHRC-Monitor-No4-March-2019.pdf This brief contains an updated analysis of progress since February 2018. Background……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Resolution 30/1: Implementation Status……………………………………………………………… 1. Transitional Justice and Reconciliation…………………………………………………. 2. Rights and Rule of Law………………………………………………………………………… 3. Security and Demilitarisation……………………………………………………………… 4. Power Sharing………………………………………………………………………………………. 5. International Engagement…………………………………………………………………. Resolution 30/1: Overall Status of Implementation………………………………….. Annex 1: Implementation Status… Read more »

Sri Lanka Tamils Demand Foreign Judges in War Crimes Probe

by AFP in ChannelNewsAsia, March 22, 2019 UN WebTV  of FM Tilak Marapana saying Sri Lanka will not have hybrid court. 22 Mar 2019 05:51PMCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main minority Tamil party demanded Friday that foreign judges be included in a special court to investigate war crimes, a day after the UN again granted Colombo more… Read more »

Six Major Tamil Diaspora Organisations Call for Accelerated Implementation

Six Major Tamil Diaspora Organisations Call for Accelerated Implementation of the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/six-major-tamil-diaspora-organisations-call-for-accelerated-implementation-of-the-unhrc-resolution-on-sri-lanka-300816975.html GENEVA, March 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), the British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), the Irish Tamils Forum (ITF), the New Zealand Tamil Society (NZTS), and the US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC)… Read more »

HRDAG: Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Conflict Mortality Study

Reality and risk: A refutation of S. Rendón’s analysis of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s conflict mortality study by Daniel Manrique-Vallier and Patrick Ball, ‘Research and Politics,’ January-March 2019 Abstract We refute S. Rendón’s recent criticism of the 2003 Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) conflict mortality study. We first show that his most… Read more »

Why has Sri Lanka’s Transitional Justice Process Failed to Deliver?

by  Yasmin Sooka & Frances Harrison, London School of Economics Long Read blog, February 6, 2019 After persistent allegations of mass atrocities committed during the long running civil war, a new Sri Lankan Government in 2015 pledged to the international community that it would establish an ambitious reform and transitional justice programme. Four years later,… Read more »