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 »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
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: 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 »