Sri Lankan governments have proven unwilling to acknowledge, let alone address, the root cause of conflict on the island. by Mario Arulthas, ‘The Diplomat,’ Tokyo, October 11, 2018 In the run-up to his recent address at the UN General Assembly, Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena struck a defiant note, blatantly rejecting commitments made to the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
TG: Veering Backwards
‘Tamil Guardian’ editorial, September 28, 2018 At the end of the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) 39th session, there can be no more illusions as to whether Sri Lanka will deliver for the Tamils. Although the government queued up its customary showpiece to coincide with this session – this time a revamped counter terrorism bill – all evidence points to… Read more »
Transitional Justice Efforts in Sri Lanka Fall Short
by Meenakshi Ganguly, ‘Daily Financial Times,’ Colombo, September 20, 2018 The three-decade long civil war ended with a decisive Government victory against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009. Families of victims of enforced disappearances, frustrated by numerous Government commissions that provided no answers to the fate of their loved ones, have been… Read more »
Daunting Challenges Facing New UN High Commissioner
For Human Rights By: Thambu Kanagasabai, September 23, 2018 The unanimous approval of 66 year old MICHELLE BACHELET by the United Nations to take charge of the Human Rights Council from September 01, 2018 confirms her unquestionable eligibility and credentials to run this prestigious office which was set up in 1993 to uphold and protect… Read more »
MAP Calls For Independent Evidence-Gathering Mechanism
For Sri Lanka by Colombo Telegraph, September 30, 2018 Sri Lanka Monitoring and Accountability Panel (MAP) called for the UN Human Rights Council to set up an independent evidence-gathering mechanism for Sri Lanka with a similar mandate to those on Syria and now Myanmar. The organization made this request in light of the Sri Lankan government’s continued… Read more »
Trial of Guatemala Intelligence Chief for Genocide
Guatemala’s Former Intelligence Chief Acquitted of Human Rights Violations By Reuters, Sept. 27, 2018 GUATEMALA CITY — A Guatemala City court ruled on Wednesday that the crime of genocide had been perpetrated during the darkest hours of the country’s long civil war, but acquitted a former military intelligence chief of the killings. The verdict was the latest… Read more »
ITJP: Sri Lanka & Cluster Munitions
President of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Sri Lanka, Must Come Clean on Past Use by International Truth & Justice Project – Sri Lanka, South Africa, September 28, 2018 ITJP cluster-munition-press-release 28 Sept 2018
How Assad Made Truth a Casualty of War
by Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, ‘The New York Review of Books,’ September 7, 2018 Was Colvin’s sacrifice worthwhile? It is tempting to say no—that in an indifferent world, no story is worth dying for. But Colvin’s life is itself a rebuke to such pragmatism: she had risked her life before and saved many other lives as… Read more »
Sri Lanka Core Group Statement
by UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, September 11, 2018 This UK statement was delivered at the 39th session of the Human Rights Council during the Sri Lanka Core Group Statement This statement is delivered on behalf of Germany, Macedonia, Montenegro and the UK as members of the Sri Lanka core group. We welcome further recent… Read more »
In Idlib, Final Offensive in Syrian War May Come at Horrific Cost
by Margaret Coker, Hwaida Saad and Carlotta Gall, ‘The New York Times,’ September 2, 2018 BAGHDAD — On land, Syria’s government is mustering thousands of conscripts to bolster its depleted forces. At sea, a Russian naval flotilla is just offshore, ready to intervene with formidable firepower. In Idlib Province, millions of civilians are dreading what… Read more »
Myanmar Generals Should Face Genocide Charges Over Rohingya, U.N. Says
by Nick Cummings-Bruce, ‘The New York Times,’ August 27, 2019 GENEVA — Myanmar’s army commander and other top generals should face trial in an international court for genocide against Rohingya Muslims and for crimes against humanity targeting other ethnic minorities, United Nations experts said on Monday after a yearlong investigation. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing,… Read more »
Grassroots Leaders Provide the Best Hope to a Troubled World
Amid cruelty and suffering, there are heroes, says Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who steps down on September 1st The apparent powerlessness of those who suffer was also brought home to me in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, where Tamil communities dispossessed of their land by the military decades ago still… Read more »
BBC: Dozens of Skeletons Found in Mannar
Sri Lanka mass grave by Anbarasan Ethirajan, BBC, August 27, 2018 Experts in northern Sri Lanka are trying to identify the remains of dozens of bodies in a mass grave in the country’s former war zone. So far the skeletal remains of more than 90 people have been unearthed in the north-western town of Mannar…. Read more »
CPJ: Mahaweli Land Grabbing & Related Issues
edby Commission for Justice and Peace of Catholic Diocese of Jaffna, August 30, 2018 Mahaveli Development 180830 Condemnation of the Land grabbing by the Mahaveli-Development Authority and some other related issues The Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna strongly condemn all the measures taken by the Mahaveli-Development Authority to acquire the… Read more »
Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on its isit to Sri Lanka
by Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, July 23, 2018 http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/39/45/Add.2 [Statement at end of Working Group visit] VI. Conclusions 73. The Working Group appreciates the willingness of the Government to submit itself to scrutiny through the visit, and considers that the findings in the present report offer an opportunity to support the Government in addressing… Read more »
Behind the Skeletal Excavations in Mannar
Grave secrets by Indunil Usgoda Arachchi & Vimukthi Fernando, ‘The Sunday Observer,’ Colombo, August 19, 2018 Sunday Observer journalists visit a grave excavation in Mannar, where forensic investigators are hard at work, painstakingly unearthing human skeleton after skeleton, determined that this time, the investigation into the suspected mass grave site will not be compromised- politically… Read more »
What Do ‘Human Rights’ Mean for Politicians in the South…?
By S. V. KIRUPAharan, France, ‘LankaENews,’ August 21, 2018 (Lanka e News – 20.Aug.2018, 5.45AM) ‘Human rights’ may be a new phenomenon for many Sinhala Buddhists – SB and for some Tamils including a few members of the diaspora. I have seen many participants in UN human rights forums in Geneva without any basic knowledge… Read more »
UN SR Ben Emmerson’s Report on Sri Lanka
by UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson, July 24, 2018 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism on his mission to Sri Lanka Sri_LankaReportJuly2018.PDF A. Conclusions 59. In 2015, Sri Lanka seemed to have turned a corner. New elections brought to power a coalition government and with it the… Read more »
Tackling Sri Lanka’s ‘Torturers’
From Point Pedro to Dondra Head by [no author noted], ‘The Sunday Times,’ Colombo, July 29, 2018 There is little doubt that the findings of United Nations Special Rapportuer on Countering Terrorism, Ben Emmerson on the sorry fate of Sri Lanka’s justice system, particularly in regard to the continuance of a ‘culture of impunity’ are… Read more »
Protecting or Facilitating?
A review of the humanitarian response to IDP detention in Sri Lanka, 2009 All too often however, humanitarian organisations were poorly equipped with the time, skills and attitudes to address a situation where the state was not representing the interests of the population. In these cases, supporting the vulnerable means contesting state agendas, even where… Read more »