Posts Categorized: Human Rights

Amnesty: Authorities Must Refrain from Use of Military to Police Protests

by Amnesty International, London, July 14, 2022 “The recent escalation of the authorities’ response to protests by calling in the armed forces, firing at protestors and excessive use of tear gas which resulted in the death of one person yesterday is deeply worrying,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Director. The Sri Lankan… Read more »

Cycles of Violence in Sri Lanka

A Crisis of Accountability by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice, London, July 12, 2022 Sri Lanka’s Accountability Crisis: Part 2 of 3 This is the second of a 3-part series of essays and reports which the Sri Lanka Campaign will be publishing in the coming weeks, ahead of the Office of the High… Read more »

The Treatment of Former Combatants in Post-War Sri Lanka

by Ambika Satkunanathan, from Routledge Handbook of Human Rights in Asia, December 11, 2018 The treatment of former combatants in post-war Sri Lanka | Ambika Satkunanathan – Academia.edu Abstract This chapter, which is based on interviews with those identified as former LTTE combatants, their families and lawyers representing persons detained under national security laws, aims… Read more »

Economic Crisis and Unregulated Alcohol Collide

by Vetrichelvi Chandrakala, Global Press Journal, Washington, DC, May 25, 2022 Civil war veterans, also grappling with the country’s imploding economy, fight to break their dependency on dangerous, illegal liquor. READ THIS STORY IN English தமிழ் MANNAR, SRI LANKA — Vijayakumar Velayutham fought for more than a decade in the Sri Lankan civil war. He… Read more »

HRW Submission to Sri Lanka’s 4th UPR

by Human Rights Watch, New York, May 31, 2022 On June 2, 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Committee announced that its review of Sri Lanka had been postponed to the 136th Session (October 10, 2022 – November 4, 2022). Human Rights Watch will update this submission ahead of the postponed review. This submission provides… Read more »

Sri Lanka in Crisis

Why the Past Lives on in its Collective Future by Ambika Satkunananthan, 9Dashline, Europe, June 16, 2022 Sri Lanka is in the throes of an economic and political crisis not hitherto witnessed. The crisis has created instability and resulted in protests that began in March 2022. Citizens’ protests that are not organised by political parties… Read more »

TMVP Informant Spills the Beans

by Easwaran Rutnam, Daily Mirror, Colombo, June 24, 2022 Flees Sri Lanka fearing for his safety Reveals information on murders to UN Writes to key diplomatic missions Shares details on Easter Sunday attacks UN officials had recorded statements from the informant over a period of approximately 5 days An informant of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai… Read more »

All Talk & No Action on Repealing the PTA

by Kumarathasan Rasingam, Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org. June 23, 2022 [Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister GL Pieris told the UNHRC on June 13 that the PTA has been amended & there is a moratorium on arrests.1  There is no evidence of either action being taken. — Editor] The Prevention of Terrorism Act… Read more »

Avanka Lanka: An Apology

[Apologies of this sort are a long time coming.  Pledges to help the marginalized are always welcome.  However, where does this rather capitalist & imperialist statement originate? — “we believe that the Northern province nor the Eastern province cannot develop in isolation but needs to link up with the South and the rest of the… Read more »

‘We Want Justice, Not Fuel’

Sri Lanka’s Tamils on north-south divide by Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Rubatheesan Sandran in Mullaitivu, The Guardian, Manchester, UK, June 21, 2022 In the middle of a crippling economic crisis, demonstrating is a luxury the country’s Tamil minority cannot afford Women hold a protest in Mullaitvu, Sri Lanka, demanding the return of those who were disappeared… Read more »

TGTE: Sri Lanka Hiding Behind Economic Disaster

To Avoid Accountability For Atrocity Crimes Committed Against Tamils by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, EINPresswire, June 17, 2022 “Different Responses To The Protests In The Northeast And The South Reveal The Entrenched Racism In The Sinhala Polity” UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, June 17, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam… Read more »

U.S. State Dept Letter Leaked by 2009 Hillary Clinton Emails re IMF

IMF Supported War Crimes and Genocide in Sri Lanka by Tamils for Biden, EINPresswire, June 9, 2022 The IMF and World Bank desired that the Tamils be “completely defeated,” regardless of “any collateral damage inflicted” by the Sri Lankan government. EINPresswire.com/ — The IMF and World Bank desired that the Tamils be “completely defeated,” regardless… Read more »

May 31-June 4, 1981: Five Days of State Terror in Jaffna

by Santaseelan Kadirgamar, Transcurrents, June 4, 2011, also posted in Colombo Telegraph, February 3, 2013 Two years after the end of the war in Lanka*, without a political solution in sight, it may be appropriate to look back at events that occurred 30 years ago. 31 May to 4 June 2011 marks the 30th anniversary… Read more »

Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka – Session III

Berlin Session by Permanent People’s Tribunal, Berlin, May 20-22, 2022 Following the Sessions held in Dublin (14-16 January 2010) and Bremen (7-10 December 2013), the third Peoples’ Tribunal on Sri Lanka will take place under the aegis of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on 20-22 May 2022 in Berlin. As was the case with previous sessions, this third session was requested by… Read more »

13 Years Ago Today – A Massacre in Mullivaikkal

by Tamil Guardian, London, May 18, 2022 Photograph: A scene of devastation in Mullivaikkal pictured days after the Sri Lankan military had overrun the area. Marking 13 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… Read more »

Amnesty: Trinco Five at GTOB

by Amnesty International USA, Apri, 28, 2022 On April 29, Amnesty International USA held its 2022 virtual “Get on the Bus” event, featuring speakers and actions on Sri Lanka, Tibet/China, Syria and Ukraine.  The speaker for Sri Lanka was Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, Amnesty’s South Asia and Sri Lanka researcher.  She spoke about the case of the… Read more »

An Ignored Genocide

Of Tamils at Mullivaikkal in Sri Lanka by Thambu Kanagasabai  LLM London, Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 11, 2022 There cannot be any plausible reasons to deny the fact of a genocidal agenda initiated by the Sri Lankan Governments immediately after the independence in 1948 against the Tamils living in… Read more »

ITJP: Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Role in 1989 Mass Atrocities

by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, May 10, 2022 ITJP_1989_mass_grave_report_v6_WEB This is a joint report from the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS). As Sri Lanka is enveloped in unprecedented anger directed at the Rajapaksa family, a new report reveals that the President,… Read more »

TCHR: ‘Reaching Towards Justice: Reality Revealed’

by Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, February 3, 2022 A book in English and in Tamil has been released by France-based human rights activist cum Freelance research analyst S. V. Kirupaharan – KIRUPA. The book’s title is Reaching towards justice: Reality revealed – a Socio-politico-historical perspective.   Due to the sudden rise of the Covid pandemic in Europe, the book launch supposed… Read more »

Sri Lanka is in an Economic Freefall

by Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch podcast, April 28, 2022 https://undispatch.com/category/podcast APPLE PODCASTS  | GOOGLE PODCASTS |  SPOTIFY  | PODCAST ADDICT  |  STITCHER  | RADIO PUBLIC  Transcript lightly edited for clarity How Has Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis Affected Its Citizens? J.S. Tissainayagam [00:02:59] Sri Lanka’s problem today stems basically from a failure of accountability when wrong decisions are made. This has led to both… Read more »