By Kumarathasan Rasingam, March 29, 2019 Tamils demand the Right to Self-Determination as Tamils in Sri Lanka qualify as a People and Nation When the United Nations was created after World War II, one of the main purposes of the United Nations was spelt out in Article 1 [2] of the Charter, which states ‘To… Read more »
Posts Categorized: International
India’s Statement at UNHRC
Statement by India at the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council (25 February – 22 March 2019) under Agenda Item 2: Interactive Dialogue with the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka, delivered by Ambassador Rajiv K. Chander, Permanent Representative of India [20 March 2019, Geneva] Mr. President We thank the High Commissioner for the report… Read more »
Verité: Res. 30/1 Implementation Monitor
by Verité Research, Colombo, March 2019 https://www.veriteresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Verite-Research_UNHRC-Monitor-No4-March-2019.pdf This brief contains an updated analysis of progress since February 2018. Background……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Resolution 30/1: Implementation Status……………………………………………………………… 1. Transitional Justice and Reconciliation…………………………………………………. 2. Rights and Rule of Law………………………………………………………………………… 3. Security and Demilitarisation……………………………………………………………… 4. Power Sharing………………………………………………………………………………………. 5. International Engagement…………………………………………………………………. Resolution 30/1: Overall Status of Implementation………………………………….. Annex 1: Implementation Status… Read more »
Sri Lanka Refuses to Hand Back Military Occupied Land
By Athula Vithanage, Journalists for a Democratic Sri Lanka, Europe, March 22, 2019 UN WebTV Thousands of acres of land occupied by the military in northern Sri Lanka will not be released to their rightful owners despite ongoing protests. Scores of war displaced Tamil families have been protesting for more than two years by the… Read more »
Six Major Tamil Diaspora Organisations Call for Accelerated Implementation
Six Major Tamil Diaspora Organisations Call for Accelerated Implementation of the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/six-major-tamil-diaspora-organisations-call-for-accelerated-implementation-of-the-unhrc-resolution-on-sri-lanka-300816975.html GENEVA, March 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), the British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), the Irish Tamils Forum (ITF), the New Zealand Tamil Society (NZTS), and the US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC)… Read more »
HRDAG: Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Conflict Mortality Study
Reality and risk: A refutation of S. Rendón’s analysis of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s conflict mortality study by Daniel Manrique-Vallier and Patrick Ball, ‘Research and Politics,’ January-March 2019 Abstract We refute S. Rendón’s recent criticism of the 2003 Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) conflict mortality study. We first show that his most… Read more »
OHCHR Report on Sri Lanka 2019
by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, February 8, 2019 OHCHR Report on Sri Lanka 8 Feb 2019 Human Rights Council Fortieth session 25 February–22 March 2019 Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General… Read more »
SR Emmerson’s Report Annex to Visit to Sri Lanka
by Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism, March 2019 Human Rights Council Fortieth session 25 February–22 March 2019 Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Visit to Sri Lanka Report of the Special Rapporteur on the… Read more »
Lanka’s Tamil-dominated North Observes Shut Down over Justice for Disappeared Persons
by PTI via The New Indian Express, February 25, 2019 At a well-attended gathering in Kilinochchi, the former LTTE stronghold, the protestors said they had no faith in any local probe and wanted the internationally-supervised process of accountability. COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Tamil-dominated northern province observed a complete shut down on Monday with protestors demanding justice… Read more »
ICJ: Written Statement to HRC
by International Commission of Jurists, Geneva, February 7, 2019 Full statement The ICJ has submitted a written statement on Sri Lanka to the Human Rights Council ahead of its 40th Session in Geneva. Almost ten years after Sri Lanka emerged from a period of conflict and massive human rights violations, the Government of Sri Lanka still… Read more »
NE Civil Society Letter to HCHR
by North East civil society, January 30, 2019 2019_january_tamil_mothers_to_michelle_bachelet Your Excellency, Re: Your Report to the UNHRC in March 2019 on Sri Lanka We the undersigned civil society groups, in particular from the North and East of Sri Lanka, members of war victims’ associations, other likeminded organisations and individuals concerned about the current state of… Read more »
Reluctance Towards BJP Will Prevail In South
BJP’s simple majoritarian plank doesn’t work in the complex of southern India by Ramu Manivannan, ‘Outlook India,’ New Delhi, January 31, 2019 The BJP and its allies are in control of 22 states in India. This is a staggering proposition to boast vis-à-vis the Congress, notwithstanding the recent setbacks in assembly elections. Though the BJP’s… Read more »
Amnesty: Flickering Hope
Truth, Justice, Reparations & Guarantees of Non-recurrence by Amnesty International, London, January 24, 2019, Index number: ASA 37/9715/2019 In 2015, Sri Lanka co-sponsored Resolution 30/1 at the UN Human Rights Council to demonstrate the newly elected government’s commitment to break with impunity for a past marked by serious human rights violations. While the Resolution was welcomed… Read more »
The Crucial March 2019 Session of UNHRC
Judging Sri Lanka’s Credibility & Commitments to Human Rights By: Thambu Kanagasabai – LLM [Lond.] Former Lecturer in Law University of Colombo, Sri Lanka UN Human Rights Council’s March 2019 Sessions is poised to debate and discuss the Council’s Final Reports on Sri Lanka’s progress in implementing its 30-01-2015 Resolution which had more than 25… Read more »
ICJ 1981 – Ethnic Conflict & Violence in Sri Lanka
by Virginia Leary, International Commission of Jurists, 1981, with a supplement 1981-1983 https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/1983/08/Sri-Lanka-ethnic-conflict-and-violence-fact-finding-mission-report-1983-eng.pdf Ethnic conflict and violence in Sri Lanka: report of a mission to Sri Lanka in July-August 1981, with a supplement for the period of 1981-1983 AUGUST 1, 1983 In view of the events of July – August 1983 in Sri Lanka, the… Read more »
Resolution of US Massachusetts House of Representatives
Resolution of US Massachusetts House of Representatives Calling for the Restoration of the Separate Sovereign State of Tamil Eelam 18 June 1981 [see also Proclamation of Eelam Day by Edward J.King, Governor of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 16 May 1979 Human Rights for Tamils in Sri Lanka – US Congress Resolution – Hon. Mario Baggio of… Read more »
Use of Cluster Munitions in Sri Lanka
by Kumarathasan Rasingam, November 19, 2018 Sri Lanka is the 103rd country to join the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. Sri Lanka acceded to the Convention on March 01, 2018. Under the Convention, Sri Lanka is required to show transparency and report annually in a public document on use, stockpiling, clearance and destruction. These obligations… Read more »
Khmer Rouge Leaders Found Guilty of Genocide
in Cambodia’s ‘Nuremberg’ moment Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea are the two most senior living leaders of regime that presided over deaths of at least 1.7 million in Cambodia by Hannah Ellis-Petersen, South-east Asia correspondent, ‘The Guardian,’ London, November 16, 2018 About two million people died during Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime. Two of its senior leaders… Read more »
The Sri Lanka Crisis Deepens
Editorial by ‘The Hindu,’ Chennai, November 12, 2018 Dissolution of Sri Lanka’s Parliament negates the letter and spirit of constitutional reforms Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has dissolved Parliament after it became evident that Mahinda Rajapaksa, who he had appointed Prime Minister two weeks ago, did not enjoy a legislative majority. It is an act of desperation to… Read more »
Why the US’s Policy on Sri Lanka Needs a Reset
by JS Tissainayagam, ‘Asia Correspondent,’ November 5, 2018 WHEN Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena unexpectedly replaced Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe with strongman and former-President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Oct 26, the move was seen as the fallout from internal rivalry caused by domestic issues such as corruption, poor economic performance and political power play. While this… Read more »