by Tamil Guardian, London, May 25, 2024 Tamils across the world marked the 15th anniversary of the massacres at Mullivaikkal last week. Thousands gathered, en masse in public commemorations and in private ceremonies at homes, to pay tribute to those who were killed by the Sri Lankan state. As they did so, they were clear… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
Amnesty: Fifteen Years After the End of War, Victims Still Await Justice at Mullivaikkal
by Amnesty International, London, May 18, 2024 Victims still await justice at Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka (amnesty.org) Speaking at a commemoration marking the 15th anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka’s internal armed conflict on 18 May 2009, which culminated in the brutal Mullivaikkal offensive where countless civilian lives were lost, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty… Read more »
The Burden of War Widows
Gendered consequences of war and peace-building in Sri Lanka by Karen Brounéus, Erika Forsberg, Kristine Höglund, Kate Lonergan, Third World Quarterly, Pages 458-474, Received 26 Aug 2022, Accepted 16 Aug 2023, Published online: 09 Sep 2023 Burden of War Widows Third World Quarterly Sept 2023 Abstract Research shows that war affects various groups of survivors… Read more »
HRW: Crackdown Over Civil War Anniversary
UN Report Calls for International Prosecutions for Enforced Disappearances by Human Rights Watch, New York, May 23, 2024 (Geneva) – Sri Lankan authorities have threatened and detained Tamils commemorating those who died or went missing in the country’s civil war, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 17, 2024, the United Nations human rights office issued a report calling… Read more »
Dead or Alive?
Parents of children gone in Sri Lanka’s civil war have spent 15 years seeking answers by Krishnan Francis, Associated Press, New York, May 18, 2024 MULLAITIVU, Sri Lanka (AP) — For 15 years, Rasalingam Thilakawathi has been trying to find out what happened to her daughter at the end of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war…. Read more »
Legacy of Enforced Disappearances Haunts Sri Lanka
by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, May 21, 2024 “I have been looking for my son since 2009. I am now 72 years old and I will leave this world soon. Maybe I will get to see my son again or at least find out where he is buried,” said Kamala*…. Read more »
15 Years Today – A Massacre in Mullivaikkal
by Tamil Guardian, London, May 18, 2024 To mark 15 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day’. After providing an initial death toll of 40,000, the UN… Read more »
OHCHR: Accountability for Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka must ensure accountability for decades of enforced disappearances – UN report by UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, May 17, 2024 report-accountability-enforced-disappearances-sri-lanka-may2024-en GENEVA (17 May 2024) – Sri Lanka’s Government must take meaningful action to determine and disclose the fates and whereabouts of tens of thousands of people who… Read more »
Sri Lanka: Accountability Needed for Enforced Disappearances
Sri Lanka must ensure accountability for decades of enforced disappearances – UN report UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights press release, Geneva, May 17, 2024 GENEVA (17 May 2024) – Sri Lanka’s Government must take meaningful action to determine and disclose the fates and whereabouts of tens of thousands of people who… Read more »
OHCHR Report – Accountability for Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka
by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, May 17, 2024 Full report, with summary in English, Tamil & Sinhalese – Accountability for Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka – OHCHR report | OHCHR OHCHR report re accountability for enforced disappearances May 2024 Summary: Unofficial document This report, issued pursuant to the United Nations… Read more »
Maatram: Website for Memories of Enforced Disappeared
by Maatram, March 30, 2024 Memories of relationships…! உறவுகளின் நினைவுகள்…! நாளை மாலை 6.00 மணியிலிருந்து 7.30 வரைhttps://t.co/mzGQTR9iZX pic.twitter.com/izm2Rjk34X — Maatram (@MaatramSL) March 29, 2024 Maatram is a citizens journalism website in Tamil, based in Sri Lanka. Established in 2014. Curated by @SRajasegar
Amnesty: Digital Space Launched to Highlight Enforced Disappearances in South Asia
by Amnesty International, London, March 27, 2024 Enforced disappearance in South Asia – Amnesty International Amnesty International, along with over 20 partner organisations from South Asia, launches the first phase of an interactive digital space titled, “Footprints – Virtual Museum on Enforced Disappearances in South Asia,” today to highlight stories of those who have been… Read more »
CPA: Understanding Interconnections between Human Rights and Economic Crimes
in Sri Lanka: Exploring Issues and Potential Ways Forward by Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, March 2024 Economic-Crimes-Advocacy-Report.pdf (cpalanka.org) Summary In Sri Lanka, economic crimes perpetrated by Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) have received critical attention at present, where there have been discussions on plausible interventions to address the culture of impunity and the human rights… Read more »
The Logic Behind Sri Lanka’s Arrests
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, March 24, 2024 Illustration by Keera Ratnam / @wavesofcolour After more than a week of detention, a group of eight Tamils who had been assaulted, arrested and detained without bail finally had a trumped-up case against them dismissed. The Sri Lankan police never did have any basis to hold them, a fact that even… Read more »
Enforced Disappearance Legal Database
by European Human Rights Advocacy Centre, London, March 24, 2024 Enforced Disappearance Legal Database – Enforced Disappearance Legal Database (ehrac.org.uk) The Enforced Disappearance Legal Database (EDLD) contains the leading jurisprudence, legislation and soft law on the autonomous offence of enforced disappearance as developed by human rights mechanisms around the world. The EDLD seeks to promote… Read more »
‘Transitional justice’ Which Brings No Relief to Victims Insults the Rule of Law
by Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene, The Sunday Times, Colombo, March 17, 2024 As familiar wrangling in Geneva takes place over the review of Sri Lanka by the United Nations Human Rights Council, there is an eminently sound argument to be made, (ad nauseam until the point is acknowledged) that the country’s many ineffective bodies on transitional justice… Read more »
TG: Sinhala Buddhism Unleashed
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, March 17, 2024 The Sri Lankan state is on a concerted mission. Following a long history of killings and massacres, it is fervently pursuing a more insidious endeavour across the North-East, attempting to erase Eelam Tamil existence. Buddhist monuments are being purposefully constructed, whilst attempts to seize Tamil-owned land have persevered… Read more »
Tamil Tiger Fighters Killed in Sri Lanka War Buried ‘Chaotically’ in Secret Mass Grave
by Kithsiri Wijesignhe, Journalists for a Democratic Society, Europe, March 16, 2024 Latest findings from a secret burial site in Sri Lanka reveal that bodies of male and female Tamil Tiger combatants who died in war with state security forces have neither been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for… Read more »
CPA: Elusive Justice and Emblematic Cases in Sri Lanka
by Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, March 2023 CPA Elusive-Justice-and-Emblematic-Cases-in-Sri-Lanka-March 2023 INTRODUCTION Bhavani Fonseka In February 2023, victims who had filed habeas corpus cases in the High Court in Vavuniya had a small victory in their case with the judge making an order for the military to produce their family members who had surrendered to… Read more »
Core Group Statement at 55th UNHRC
HRC 55 Item 2 General Debate – Sri Lanka Core Group Statement Thank you, Mr President. This statement is on behalf of the Sri Lanka Core Group comprising Canada, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom and the United States, High Commissioner, There have been several important legislative developments regarding human rights, reconciliation and civic… Read more »