by Satya Sagar, Substack, December 6, 2023 The daily death and destruction in Gaza has evoked painful memories for Tamils everywhere of a similar carnage half a world away in Mullivaikal, the coastal village that became the scene of mass slaughter at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009. The parallels between the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Human Rights
“As a Human Rights Defender, You’re Almost Expected to be Superhuman”
In the words of Anushani Alagarajah by UN Women, Asia Pacific, November 28, 2023 Anushani Alagarajah is a human rights defender who has worked closely with conflict-affected communities in the North and East of Sri Lanka. She is the Executive Director at the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, a non-profit research think-tank that works on… Read more »
Maaveerar Naal 2023
by Nillanthan Maha, November 25, 2023 [Translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate with help from the editor.] This is the fifteenth Veterans Day since the end of the armed struggle. Over the past 15 years, there have been legal issues in the widespread popularization of commemorations such as Heroes’ Day. Fear cannot be… Read more »
TGTE to Launch a Movement for New Norms for Peace & Justice
by EIN Presswire, October 26, 2023 Such a global campaign for peace and justice has become more urgent today due to the threat of the Israel-Palestine conflict spreading throughout Middle-East We need to keep evolving and creating other systems to create solutions to conflict.” — former ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo NEW YORK, UNITED STATES,… Read more »
Palestine Israel War: Whose Side are the Tamils On?
by A. Nillanthan, October 21, 2023 In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the armed struggle of the Tamil people began to gain momentum, Tamil movements like EROS, EPRLF, PLOT etc. received military training in Palestine. Those who received such training were called “PLO Rainies” in the homeland. Some of them – Suresh Premachandran,… Read more »
Why Britain Fails to Hold War Criminals to Account
Amal Clooney and Rupert Skilbeck on why Britain fails to hold war criminals to account Three reforms are needed to make its international justice efforts more robust, say the lawyers by The Economist, October 19, 2021 In the year and a half since Russia invaded Ukraine, Britain has repeatedly condemned Vladimir Putin’s illegal act of… Read more »
ICJ: Parliamentary Privilege Used to Undermine Independence of the Judiciary
Sri Lanka by International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, August 30, 2023 The ICJ today expressed concern about attacks on the independence of the judiciary in Sri Lanka under cover of parliamentary privilege. On 22 August 2023, Sarath Weeresekera, a former Minister and a Member of Parliament belonging to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, the country’s ruling political… Read more »
IS the TNPF Throwing Rocks at a Wasp Nest?
by A Nillanthan, September 24, 2023 [Translated from the original Tamil by Google Translate with corrections by the Editor. Further corrections welcome.] A vehicle of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) was attacked in Trincomalee. The vehicle carrying Thileepan’s picture had first passed that way last year, but the vehicle was not targeted at that… Read more »
Congress Wants to Hold Sri Lanka’s Feet to the Fire on Human Rights
by Anusha Rathi & Jack Detsch, Foreign Policy, Washington, DC, September 21, 2023 Congress is calling on the Biden administration to formally hold Sri Lanka responsible for its human rights abuses and violation of international humanitarian law, including decades of torture, military abuse, and other “horrific crimes” carried out against the country’s minority Tamil population…. Read more »
US Congress Letter re Justice in Sri Lanka
NEWS: Congresswoman Summer Lee and Congressman Bill Johnson Lead Bipartisan Group of Colleagues Urging State Department to Take Action Towards Justice and Accountability for Sri Lanka’s International Crimes – Summer Lee (house.gov)
Joint NGO Statement re Sri Lanka Truth Commission
by Amnesty International, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Franciscans International, Front Line Defenders. Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) International Working Group on Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Campaign, September 4, 2023 Joint Statement re Sri Lanka Truth Commission Sept. 2023 Sri Lanka’s Flawed Plans for… Read more »
ICES: Mass Grave Sites in Sri Lanka
History and Legal Framework by Sophia Bisping, International Centre for Ethnic Studies, 2023 ICES Mass Grave Sites in Sri Lanka 2023 Between 1992 and 2022, at least 32 mass grave sites were uncovered in Sri Lanka. Of the few investigations conducted, none were successful in fully identifying victims, establishing stable narratives of events preceding each… Read more »
India Urges Sri Lanka to Keep Its Promises
Citing ‘inadequate progress’ on rights front by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu, Chennai, September 13, 2023 India on Tuesday said the progress made by Sri Lanka, on its commitment to fulfill the Tamils’ aspirations, was “inadequate” and urged the island nation to “work meaningfully” to keep its promises. “We have taken note of reaffirmation by the… Read more »
UNHRC’s 54th Session
UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, September 11 to October 13, 2023 . Written Report on ‘Situation in Sri Lanka’ by High Commissioner for Human Rights – UNHCHR Situation of human rights in Sri Lanka Report, Advanced unedited . 1st Meeting |UN Web TV Sri Lanka begins at 2hrs.44min. 2nd Meeting | UN Web TV Interactive Dialogue… Read more »
Meet the Sri Lankan Families Still Fighting for Justice
Almost 15 years after end of nation’s bloody civil war, still no answers as to what happened to ‘the disappeared’ by Andrew Bunscombe, NewsReel Substack, July 11, 2023 Sometimes as a journalist you feel you’ve done a pretty good job. You may be covering a murder trial, you may be watching a pet contest. But you… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Flawed Plans for a ‘Truth Commission’
We, nine international human rights organizations, have grave reservations about the Sri Lankan government’s proposed National Unity and Reconciliation Commission. Our concerns echo many of those already raised by victims of conflict-related abuses and their families. by Amnesty International, London, September 4, 2023 Index Number: ASA 37/7165/2023 Statement signed by • Amnesty International • Asian… Read more »
Decades After Dictatorship, Chile Mounts Search for Hundreds Who Vanished
President Gabriel Boric authorized a new national search plan ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup that toppled the government and led to the disappearance and killing of thousands. by Pascale Bonnefoy, New York Times, August 30, 2023, updated September 2 A commemoration in Santiago, Chile, in July for Chileans who were detained or… Read more »
Sri Lanka Massacres Stir Painful Memories 40 Years On
by Barron’s, New York, July 27, 2023 Video: Sri Lanka massacres stir painful memories, 40 years on (barrons.com)
Veeramani Massacre
by Tamil Information Centre, London, August 19 2019, courtesy YouTube. In Tamil with English subtitles. Testimony of victims of massacre of Tamil people in Weeramunya village, Amparai district. Tamil Information Center For more information, se 32nd anniversary of Veeramunai massacre commemorated in Amparai | Tamil Guardian NESHoR – Massacres of Tamil 1956 – 2008 Documented… Read more »
Enforced Disappearances Key Focus of OMP
By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan, Ceylon Today, Colombo, August 26, 2023 The Office on Missing Persons (OMP) in Sri Lanka, responsible for investigating cases of missing individuals, has transitioned from its previous approach of investigating all missing persons to focusing specifically on those who were forcefully disappeared. During a recent media briefing, Chairman of OMP, Mahesh… Read more »