GTF Press Statement 25 January 2016 Issued for immediate release PRESS STATEMENT 25 January 2016 Alarmed at President Sirisena’s recent Comments regarding International Involvement on Accountability Mechanism – Global Tamil Forum Global Tamil Forum (GTF) is deeply concerned and disappointed by the recent comments of Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena (BBC, January 21, 2016) concerning… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
HRW: Fulfill Rights Council Call for Justice
by Human Rights Watch, January 25, 2015 (New York) – The Sri Lankan government should fulfill its commitments to the United Nations Human Rights Council by ensuring that foreign judges and prosecutors play a significant role in the mandated accountability mechanism for wartime abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 21, 2016, President Maithripala Sirisena… Read more »
FfT: Response to President’s Backtrack on Justice Process
Our Response to President Sirisena’s Backtrack on Justice Process for Sri Lanka Statement from Freedom from Torture on President Sirisena’s questioning of our 2015 torture evidence in BBC interview of 21 January 2016. Sonya Sceats, Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: “This is an outrageous reversal of promises made to torture survivors and the international… Read more »
ITJP: Statement in Response to Sri Lankan President’s Remarks
ITJP Press Release 22 January 2016 Press Statement in Response to Sri Lankan President’s Remarks in BBC Interview: Sri Lanka President wants ‘ internal’ war crimes court. 22nd January 2016. Johannesburg: The International Truth and Justice Project is deeply concerned that Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appears to be rolling back on his commitment in… Read more »
Sri Lanka President Wants ‘Internal’ War Crimes Court
Video The president of Sri Lanka has said foreign judges and prosecutors should not be involved in an investigation into allegations of war crimes. In a BBC interview, President Maithripala Sirisena said the country did not need to “import” specialists. Both the army and the Tamil Tiger rebels are accused of atrocities in the civil… Read more »
Myths, Realities and Options for Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka
by Bhavani Fonseka & Luwie Ganeshathasan, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, January 18, 2016 The 2015 political transition in Sri Lanka witnessed several promises for reform. One area in the reform agenda includes the processes and mechanisms for transitional justice. The resolution titled ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’ adopted at the… Read more »
State-aided Sinhala Colonisation
submitted by International Human Rights Association Bremen Before the armed resistance of the Tamil people took the centre stage, three major processes could be identified aimed at the marginalisation and destabilization of the Tamil nation. The first was the state sponsored colonisation schemes, which under the pretext of development, settled depressed peasants and later lumpen… Read more »
Starvation in Syria Galvanizes U.N.
by Somini Sengupta, ‘The New York Times,’ January 15, 2016 UNITED NATIONS — The images of gaunt, hollow-eyed children in three besieged Syrian towns this week prompted even the usually cautious Ban Ki-moon to bluntly and publicly declare that the people starving civilians on the battlefield were committing war crimes. “Tomorrow,” Mr. Ban, the secretary… Read more »
We Need to Jettison Inherited Prejudices and Wrong Notions
by ‘Adaderana,’ Colombo, January 15, 2015 Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran says that an inclusive society cannot be built upon counter-terrorism mindset and state security perspectives and that a heavy military presence in the province lays the foundation for violence. Addressing the National Thaipongal Festival in Jaffna today, he said that the 16th goal… Read more »
PTA is Now an Expired Act – PM
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that his British counterpart David Cameron visited Sri Lanka during a “dark period” and that the government is inviting him to return now that the sun is shining on the country. “British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Sri Lanka during a dark period. We are now publicly inviting him to… Read more »
Need For A Time-Bound Process
The government is set to make some headway in the reconciliation process this month but the failure to set deadlines to complete the process has raised some eyebrows. The government, like the former regime, has been saying as of late that it needs to be given time to address the issues at hand. However going… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Torture Machine Continues in Peacetime
PHNOM PENH, 6 January 2016 (IRIN) – Sri Lanka’s new government has been lauded for efforts at reconciliation after a devastating civil war. Yet, civilians are still being abducted, tortured and sexually abused by security forces, according to a report published today. The abuses carry echoes of the not-so-distant past. War erupted in the early… Read more »
Sri Lanka Accused of Allowing Continuing Human Rights Abuses
As Sri Lanka marks a year since the election on 8 January 2015 which brought President Sirisena to power, Freedom from Torture releases new details of recent torture cases and warns that the Government must place a higher priority on tackling torture by the country’s military, police and security services. The UK human rights charity’s… Read more »
ITJP Exposes Horrific Human Rights Abuses in Sri Lanka
—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE— International Truth and Justice Project Exposes Horrific Human Rights Abuses in Sri Lanka January 7, 2016, 7:00 AM PST Contact: Anuradha Mittal, amittal /A_T/ oaklandinstitute /D_O_T/ org Oakland, CA—On the eve of the first anniversary of President Sirisena’s election in Sri Lanka, a new report by the International Truth and Justice Project… Read more »
Survivors of Torture & Sexual Violence 2015
Silenced ITJP Jan 2016 Press release: “Silenced: survivors of torture and sexual violence in 2015” 7th January 2016. Johannesburg: New evidence has emerged of on-going torture and sexual violence by the Sri Lankan security forces one year after a new government came to power promising a radical clean up. “Sadly Sri Lanka’s notorious ‘white vans’… Read more »
What If the Tamil Tigers Weren’t Labelled as ‘Terrorists’?
How labeling a group influences the standards of civilian protection in wartime is a pertinent question. by Ambika Kaushik, ‘The Diplomat,’ Tokyo, July 24, 2015 The elections in Sri Lanka next month come just ahead of a much-anticipated report on the alleged war crimes by prime ministerial candidate and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government during… Read more »
Sinhalisation of the North-East
http://www.sinhalisation.com/ About Since time immemorial the island of Sri Lanka has been largely divided into two linguistic regions, the Tamil North-East and the Sinhala south. The North-East region encompasses the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Mannar, Batticaloa and the littoral areas of Trincomalee and Amparai. It is a contiguous region that has traditionally been inhabited by Tamil speakers. This… Read more »
CTC Calls on GoSL to Release Tamil Political Prisoners
CTC calls on the Sri Lankan government to uphold promise to release Tamil political prisoners The Canadian Tamil Congress (“CTC”) is deeply concerned that the Sri Lankan government has failed to uphold its promise to Tamil political prisoners that it would review their cases and ensure their release by December 15, 2015. CTC is dedicated… Read more »
Denying the Right to Return
Resettlement in Musali South and the Wilpattu Controversy Shahul H.Hasbullah, Kandy Forum 2015. 124pp. ISBN 978-955-7902-00-5 Priced:Rs.500.00Denying the Right to Return is an in-depth academic study on the history of Musali South and the issues and problems of the displaced and the returnees. This study explores the historical, socio- economic, political and geopolitical aspects of… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Political Prisoners
by Taylor Dibbert, ‘The Huffington Post,’ Los Angeles, December 13, 2015 Just days ago, a Tamil political prisoner being held in Jaffna Prison commenced a hunger strike. Similar hunger strikes have taken place this year, although this behavior doesn’t appear to have changed the government’s calculus in a significant way. This issue has been a… Read more »