Posts Categorized: Human Rights

Adayaalam: Understanding ‘Dealing with the Past’ and ‘Transitional Justice’

by Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, Jaffna, June 30, 2017 ACPR designed a short 10-page introductory booklet on ‘Dealing with the Past and Transitional Justice’ building off of ACPR’s previous ‘Introduction to Transitional Justice’ booklet. The booklet was commissioned by activists in the North-East working on running introduction to transitional justice workshops for grassroots communities…. Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Latest Counter-terrorism Proposals

Old wine in new bottles by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice, London, Jul7 21, 2017 https://www.srilankacampaign.org/old-wine-new-bottles-sri-lankas-latest-counter-terrorism-proposals/ http://fhr.org.za/files/3914/9760/6825/FHR_ICLA_-_Review_of_the_PLFCTA_13_June_2017_FINAL.pdf Last Friday, the UN Special Rapporteur (SR) on Human Rights and Counter Terrorism, Ben Emmerson QC, issued a statement of findings upon the conclusion of his visit to Sri Lanka. You can read it in full here…. Read more »

Voluntary, Safe and Sustainable Return

Support Needed for Sri Lankan Refugees by Mayuran Jeevarathnina, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo, August 9, 2017 Editor’s Note: A version of this speech was delivered by the author at the UNHCR Annual Consultations with NGOs, held from June 14-16 at the  International Conference Centre in Geneva  “O our motherland, bid us a farewell We buried our smiles in… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s War Widows Trafficked

as slaves to Gulf “People who have not gone through a conflict will not understand how difficult it is to take care of young children on your own. We suffered during the war and we are suffering now” – by Amantha Perera, Thomson Reuters Foundation, August 9, 2017 Tamil தமிழ்  JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Aug 9 (Thomson… Read more »

Holding Sri Lanka to Account

A dream or a reality? By: Thambu Kanagasabai   LLM [Lond], Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s political and economic history from the day of independence in 1948 until 1956 was considered a role model for developing countries, even envied by the late Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kwan Yew.  Communal harmony… Read more »

TGTE: Remedial Justice for 1983 Massacre of Tamils

Would have averted 2009 Mullivaaikaal Genocide by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, July 23, 2017 Today Tamils across the globe are remembering 34th anniversary of massacre of Tamils – Black July 83. COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, July 24, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ — During the final days of July 1983, Sinhala racism unleashed a pogrom towards the Tamils… Read more »

Looking at Systemic Torture in Sri Lanka

by Taylor Dibbert, ‘The Diplomat,’ Tokyo, July 21, 2017 The Diplomat’s Taylor Dibbert speaks with Frances Harrison of the International Truth and Justice Project.   Frances Harrison is the program coordinator of the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and author of a book on the final phase of the Sri Lankan civil war. She… Read more »

ITJP: Unstopped – 2016/17 Torture in Sri Lanka

by International Truth & Justice Project, South Africa, July 2017 Full report at http://www.itjpsl.com/assets/ITJP_unstopped_report_final.pdf or ITJP_unstopped_report_final The ITJP is administered by the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa under the guidance of its director, transitional justice expert, Yasmin Sooka. The ITJP team includes former prosecutors and investigators from the Ad Hoc Tribunal for the… Read more »

US May Deny Resettlement of Hundreds of Tamils on Nauru

Manus amid anti-terror laws by James Bennett & Stephen Dziedzic, Australian Broadcasting Corp., July 19, 2017 Australia will need to find an alternative home for a large number of Tamil asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus expected to be denied entry to the United States under sweeping anti-terror laws. Key points: 9-11 anti-terror legislation, the… Read more »

Invoking Nuremberg in Colombo

The writer clearly has a distance to travel to understand what took place during & after the war in Sri Lanka.  Has she seen Channel 4’s ‘Killing Fields,’ read the OISL Report or the proceedings of the Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka, or talked to anyone who was in Mullavaikkal at the end of the… Read more »

SR Counter-Terrorism & Human Rights

Video of SR Emmerson’s media conference at end of his visit https://lk.one.un.org/news/full-statement-by-ben-emmerson-un-special-rapporteur-on-human-rights-and-counter-terrorism-at-the-conclusion-of-his-official-visit/ Human rights and counter-terrorism: UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism concludes visit to Sri Lanka Preliminary findings of the visit to Sri Lanka Colombo (14 July 2017) – The United Nations Special… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Difficulty with Truth

Half a year later, the Sri Lankan Government has let this important initiative languish. Although officials travelling abroad boast about the consultation process and herald it as a signal of the Government’s determination to abide by the Human Rights Council resolution, it has completely ignored the report domestically. Foreign governments watching Sri Lanka’s progress on… Read more »

Navy Officer Arrested in Case of 11 Missing Youth

Note: The Government of Sri Lanka has acknowledged 65,000 missing.  See Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/sri-lanka-admits-65-000-missing-war-insurrection-170723940.html and Hindustani Times at http://www.hindustantimes.com/world/sri-lanka-to-recognise-around-65-000-people-missing-since-civil-war-as-dead/story-z9fUgfnEEiT74RXUmisHwK.html.  Also see TCHR http://sangam.org/2007/11/Killed_1956_2007.php?uid=2619 — Editor by The Associated Press posted in ‘The New York Times’ Asia section July 12, 2017 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka police on Wednesday arrested a senior navy officer in connection with… Read more »

HRW: Minister Threatens Defender of Minority Rights

by Human Rights Watch, New York, June 19, 2017 Investigate, Prosecute Attacks on Muslims, Christians (New York) – The Sri Lankan government should immediately repudiate statements by the country’s justice minister threatening to disbar a prominent lawyer for speaking out against attacks on religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said today. The incident highlights the government’s… Read more »

Normalising the Abnormalcy

Reflections on Self-Determination, Justice and Peace in Post-War Sri Lanka by Prof. K. Guruparan, Melbourne, Australia, June 12, 2017 Text of the Mamanithar Late Prof C.J. Eliezer AM Memorial Lecture delivered on 12 June 2016 at the Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne  I am deeply honoured by this invitation to deliver the Maamanithar Prof Christopher Jeyaratnam… Read more »

What the Families of the Disappeared Want

by K. Guruparan tweet, June 12, 2017 Demands put forward by the reps of the families of the disappeared to Pres. Sirisena during his visit to Jaffna on June 11, 2017 1. Release a list of all those who surrendered or were detained by the Sri Lankan Armed forces during and after the war, and… Read more »

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers

On her mission to Sri Lanka Put into general distribution on March 23, 2017 Available online at http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/35/31/Add.1 Report of the SR Independence Judges Lawyers Mar 2017 Website of the Special Rapporteur Prevention of Terrorism Act 70. At the time of writing, the Prevention of Terrorism Act had not yet been repealed, despite repeated calls for… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s Missing People

This is one set of numbers re casualties from Sri Lanka’s war.  The 65,000 missing number comes from those reported to various official Sri Lankan commissions & officially accepted by Pres. Sirisena’s government in 2016.  Accurate figures of casualties are one of the biggest challenges of the war.  The numbers for civilian casualties in this… Read more »