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 »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
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 »
Pasumai Thayagaam Oral Statement at UNHRC
by Iniya Ravikumar, Pasumai Thayagaam, March 4, 2024 Item 2 General Debate at the 55th UNHRC following UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ report on Sri Lanka
HCHR Update on Sri Lanka
by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, Geneva, March 1, 2024 Presentation of the High Commissioner’s annual reports on Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras Oral update on the situation of human rights in Nicaragua Presentation of the High Commissioner’s annual report on Cyprus Oral update on progress in reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka… Read more »
PEARL Oral Statement
by Sahithyan Thilipkumar, People for Equality & Relief in Lanka, Geneva, March 4, 2024 Item 2 General Debate at the 55th UNHRC
TRG: Addressing Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka
Challenges, Concerns, and the Call for International Intervention February 29, 2024 – Geneva, Switzerland TRG Addressing Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka Feb 2024 ARED-Amparai-APPEAL-Feb2024 Tamil Rights Group (TRG) met with the Committee on Enforced Disappearances in a private session and issued a comprehensive statement addressing the ongoing crisis of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka. The statement highlighted critical challenges,… Read more »
Alternative Facts in a Parallel Universe
Daily FT editorial, Colombo, March 11, 2024 Many are talking about the book recently published by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa titled “The Conspiracy to Oust Me from the Presidency.” As the name indicates, the supposed tell-all by the ousted leader makes for some fascinating reading, despite it being far removed from reality. This is in… Read more »
TG: Eyes Wide Shut
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, March 10, 2024 As Volker Türk addressed the UN Human Rights Council last week, his message could not have been clearer. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights delivered only an “update on progress” concerning reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka. He concluded that little such progress had taken place. Instead, the human… Read more »
ITJP: Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s War Time Role
by International Truth and Justice Project, Johannesburg, South Africa, January 17, 2024 ITJP Gotabaya-Rajapaksas-war-time-role-Jan-2024_Final_26.01.2024_compressed This report alleges that former Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had command and superior responsibility for multiple violations of international humanitarian law and international criminal law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the final phase of the… Read more »
ITJP: SLG Should Acknowlege Past Truth Commissions Before Establishing a New Body
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, February 19, 2024 This press release presents a list of 36 past Commissions of Inquiry commissioned by the Sri Lankan Government – a third of which never even published their reports. Additionally, very few are even displayed on any government website, despite being for the large part… Read more »
Why Truth Is a Radical Proposition
The Office on Missing Persons in Sri Lanka by Chulani Kodikara, International Journal of Transitional Justice, olume 17, Issue 1, March 2023, Pages 157–172 Kodikara OMP in Sri Lanka 2023 ABSTRACT In 2016, the Sri Lanka Parliament passed the Office on Missing Persons Act (OMP) ‘to search for and trace missing persons.’ At the time,… Read more »
HRW: Under Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka is Going Fast – In Reverse
Administration Has Moved to Stifle Criticism with a Raft of New, Repressive Laws by Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch, February 14, 2024 Published in:Scroll.in Sri Lanka is still reeling from an economic crisis largely caused by misgovernance and lack of accountability. Public protests in 2022 forced the president and the prime minister, brothers Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa, to step down…. Read more »
TRC – a Sophisticated Get Out of Jail Free Card?
by Yasmin Sooka & Frances Harrison, Tamil Guardian, London, January 8, 2024 A rally in Jaffna in 2021, where Tamils demanded Sri Lanka be referred to the International Criminal Court. Sri Lanka has published a bill to establish a Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation. Though the bill superficially appears to tick several boxes for… Read more »
‘A Showpiece Gesture’: Strategic Legitimation and Commissions of Inquiry in Sri Lanka
by Moira Lynch, Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Seoul, Korea, Vol.11, No.2, 2023 pp.1-25 Abstract The Sri Lankan government implemented commissions of inquiry between 1977 and 2010. Though several commissions of inquiry produced comprehensive accounts of the violence in Sri Lanka’s civil war, and offered thorough recommendations, they rarely resulted in policy reforms or accountability. What… Read more »
Collective Genocidal Intent in Sri Lanka
by Maxwin Paul Rayen, Spring 2023 Collective Genocidal Intent in Sri Lanka Dear all, I am writing to share the recent publication of my LLM dissertation, which delves into the subject of “Collective Genocidal Violence in Sri Lanka.” My work critically examines the challenges associated with establishing genocidal intent and the subsequent lack of evidence… Read more »