Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka by Mytili Bala, ‘International Human Rights Law Journal,’ 2015 Transitional_Justice_in_Sri_Lanka_Rethinking 2015 Abstract Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam came to a bloody end in May 2009, amidst allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity on both sides. Since then, Tamils in the diaspora, long accused of funding the war, have become vocal proponents for war crimes… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
HRW: No Progress in Prosecuting Aid Worker Massacre
Reinvigorate Commitment to Justice for Civil War Atrocities by Human Rights Watch, New York, August 1, 2019 (New York) – Sri Lankan authorities have failed to bring to justice those responsible for the execution-style killing of 17 aid workers 13 years ago, Human Right Watch said today. On August 4, 2006, alleged Sri Lankan security forces murdered local staff… Read more »
Slaughter of Tamil Prisoners inside High Security Jail
& Genocide of Tamils in July 1983 By: Kumarathasan Rasingam – Secretary, Tamil Canadian Elders for Human Rights Org. Post independence Sri Lanka brought in several official dispositions that gave preference to the Sinhalese majority. The Sinhala Only Act introduced by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) government of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in… Read more »
Black July
Confirming Sri Lanka’s Agenda to Create a Sinhala-Buddhist State by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM[Lond.]Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 1, 2019, July 1983 is dubbed as BLACK JULY for the Tamils who experienced the island wide wholesale massacres, burning of Tamils, destruction of Temples and properties including lootings. It was not a… Read more »
Sri Lanka Growth Diagnostic Analysis
by Harvard U’s Center for International Development, January 2018 https://srilanka.growthlab.cid.harvard.edu/publications/sri-lanka-growth-diagnostic https://growthlab.cid.harvard.edu/files/growthlab/files/growth_diagnostic_for_sri_lanka_1.pdf Abstract: Throughout 2016, CID conducted a growth diagnostic analysis for Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Government of Sri Lanka, led by the Prime Minister’s Policy Development Office (PDO), and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). This presentation report aggregates collaborative quantitative and qualitative analysis… Read more »
US Millennium Challenge Corporation
by US Millennium Challenge Corporation, July 2019. Pictures from US Amb. Teplitz’s Twitter feed, July 30, 2019 The land project will initially focus on districts in the Central, North-Western, North-Central and Eastern Provinces. Highlights of MCC Compact Scorecard FY19 More info, including 2017 Constraints Analysis
Targeting Foreign Assistance to Prevent Violent Conflict
By Peter Quaranto, US State Dept blog DipNotes, July 23, 2019 The United States and other international donors devote significant amounts of foreign assistance to fragile states, now more than $65 billion a year combined. But how much of that assistance is focused on preventing violent conflict and instability? That was the question that the Office… Read more »
Divide in Press Reporting on Kanniya, Trincomalee
by The Media Analysis, Verite Research, Colombo, July 24, 2019 Was there a difference in front page headlines in reporting the protest? Find out at: 23 July 2019: http://divide.lk/divided-headlines-23-july-2019/ 19 July 2019: http://divide.lk/divided-headlines-19-july-2019/
The Muslim Factor in Sri Lankan Ethnic Crisis
by Ameer Ali, 1997 A Critical Front-Note by Sachi Sri Kantha, July 25, 2019 ‘Under the bamboo Bamboo bamboo Under the bamboo tree Two live as one One live as two Two live as three Under the bam Under the boo Under the bamboo tree.’ S.Eliot’s lines in the verse, ‘Sweeney Agonistes’, 1926-27. In a… Read more »
Time for Recognition of Sri Lanka’s Genocide
by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 9, 2019 Genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka, including structural genocide, commenced in 1948 soon after the independence. As defined in the United Nations Genocide Convention of 1948, genocide includes “ killing members of the group, or causing serious bodily… Read more »
Shifting the Blame
by Harini Amarasuriya, Himal, Colombo, June 20 2019 A minority is framed again to cover Sri Lanka’s fault lines, in wake of the Easter attacks. Photo: Francisco Anzola / Flickr Much has been and continues to be said and done, since the Easter Attacks in Sri Lanka on 21 April, that killed over 250 individuals…. Read more »
Amended US Complaint on Torture
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Hausfeld & Co., LLP, Washington, DC, June 27, 2019 Rajapaksa-First-Amended-Complaint-Docket-No-35-6.26.19 27-June-2019-press-release on Amended Complaint TEN SRI LANKANS SUE PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL GOTABAYA RAJAPAKSA FOR HIS ROLE IN TORTURE (Johannesburg, South Africa/Washington, DC) – June 27, 2019 Sri Lanka’s presidential hopeful, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, faces ten new… Read more »
Reign of Sinhala-Buddhist Chauvinism in Sri Lanka
by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, June 17, 2019 Sri Lanka’s image as a prosperous and multi-racial peaceful country took a nose dive and u-turn from 1956 with the passing of Sinhala Only Act in 1956, a short-sighted political move by S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake to capture power at… Read more »
EPDP
by Immigration & Refugee Board of Canada, March 17, 2017 https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1047356/download 3. The Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) Political Handbook of the World 2015 (PHW) states that Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) is a “Tamil-based” party (PHW 2015, 1373). The same source indicates it is a government party and that it “was formed in the… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Muslims Bloodied by Buddhism
by Ana Pararajasingam, ‘Asia Times,’ Bangkok, June 20, 2019 Sri Lanka has become more fragile, fractured and polarized following the Easter Sunday bomb attacks as the country’s Muslims are harassed and subjected to violence by mobs of Sinhala Buddhists who form the majority of the island’s population. Although those targeted by jihadist violence on Easter… Read more »
Pursuing Accountability for Atrocities
by Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Washington, DC, June 13, 2019 Announcement Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing to examine accountability for mass atrocities, with a focus on the tools and mechanisms available to the United States government. “Mass atrocities” are defined as large-scale, deliberate attacks against civilians, and include genocide, crimes… Read more »
Canadian House of Commons Passes Motion re Genocide of Tamils
by Canadian Parliament, June 19, 2019 https://openparliament.ca/debates/2019/6/19/cheryl-hardcastle-1/ (halfway down page) Sri Lanka Oral Questions June 19th, 2019 / 3:15 p.m. Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and I am hopeful that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: That the House, (a) extend its… Read more »
US Senate Resolution 184 on Sri Lanka
Passed by US Senate, June 10, 2019 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 184 Condemning the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, offering sincere condolences to the victims, to their families and friends, and to the people and nation of Sri Lanka, and expressing solidarity and support for Sri Lanka. IN THE SENATE… Read more »
Nine Decisions that Helped Lanka Beat LTTE
by V K Shashikumar, Indian Defence Review, October 2009 Not available in 2019 on Indian Defence Review website, but copied at http://www.sify.com/news/nine-decisions-that-helped-lanka-beat-ltte-imagegallery-0-international-kexv2Lbdede.html , accessed June 19, 2019 What we don’t see Will a good number of soldiers, tanks and artillery ensure victory in a war? These are outward aspects of a war which alone are… Read more »
Lessons from the War in Sri Lanka
by VK Sashikumar, Indian Defence Review – July – Sept 2009 – Vol 24(3) Lessons from Sri Lanka’s War – Indian Defence Review 2014 version, PDF http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/lessons-from-the-war-in-sri-lanka/0/ “The news about the killing of Prabhakaran sparked mass celebrations around the country, and people poured into the streets of Colombo, dancing and singing. Looking back at the… Read more »