Posts Categorized: Human Rights

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 »

Using Technology to Support Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka

by Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Sydney, Australia, February 19, 2019 “Information Overload: How Technology Can Help Convert Raw Data into Rich Information for Transitional Justice Processes” written by PIAC staff members Daniela Gavshon and Erol Gorur, was recently published in of the International Journal of Transitional Justice. The article draws on their experience working on PIAC’s… Read more »

Structural Genocide Continues in Sri Lanka

by Association Bharathi CCFT – Centre Culturel Franco Tamoul, Maurepas, France, in partnership with  Tamils’ Heritage Forum Sri Lanka, date not given Download PDF Content 1. Background 2. State aided colonization in East 3. Targeting the North 4. Mahaweli Project 4.1Mahaweli Authority 4.2 Mahaweli Authority Act No. 23 of 1979- provisions relating to land 4.3 Mahaweli ‘L’… Read more »

OHCHR Report on Sri Lanka 2019

by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, February 8, 2019 OHCHR Report on Sri Lanka 8 Feb 2019 Human Rights Council Fortieth session 25 February–22 March 2019 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… Read more »

SR Emmerson’s Report Annex to Visit to Sri Lanka

by Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism, March 2019 Human Rights Council Fortieth session 25 February–22 March 2019 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 the… Read more »

Sinhalization Of The North East: Pulmoaddai

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 »

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: 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 »

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 »