by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, February 17, 2025 Gamini-Silva-Public-Dossier_final ITJP Dossiers Gamini Silva [Full legal name: Palliyaguruge Sarath Gamini Silva (a.k.a. Gamini de Silva)] Date of Birth: September 3, 1953 Career: • Member of the National Police Commission (May 2023 – April 2024);1 [Retired from police force in December 2013];2… Read more »
Posts Categorized: International
ITJP: Swiss Legal Claim for Tamil Sent Back to Torture in Sri Lanka
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, February 18, 2025 ITJP 18-February-2025-Swiss-case-press-release Geneva: Swiss Lawyers have filed a compensation case for a Tamil man rejected for asylum in Switzerland, who went back to Sri Lanka only to be tortured and sexually violated again in 2022. The case filed by Emma Lidén and… Read more »
ITJP: 60+ Sanctions Submissions for Human Rights and Economic Crimes
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, December 5, 2024 ITJP_Sanctions_60_Submissions_for_Sri_Lankan_Human_Rights_and_Economic_Crimes_English Press Release: 60+ Sanctions Submissions for Human Rights and Economic Crimes in Sri Lanka and multiple universal jurisdiction cases. Johannesburg: The International Truth and Justice Project has submitted more than 60 sanctions and visa ban requests against Sri Lankan public and… Read more »
Himal: Yasmin Sooka on Truth and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka
State of Southasia #18 Himal, Colombo, February 16, 2025 A conversation on the failed attempts at accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka and hopes from the country’s new political dispensation for movement towards transitional justice. The Editors In December, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), an international non-government organisation working to promote justice and… Read more »
Krishna Vaikunthavasan at the UN 1978
from Tamil Guerrilla, a Tamil historical archive on Instagram & X, February 14, 2025 Krishna Vaikunthavasan was an Eelam Tamil lawyer and activist, known for his advocacy for Tamil Eelam. In August 1978, he gained international attention when he took to the podium at the UN, pretending to be the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka,… Read more »
TCHR: Sinhala Colonisation 2000
by K Sachithanandan, Tamil Centre for Human Rights, Paris, 2ooo Presented to the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva, March/April 2000 The original text was produced in Tamil by the Author in 1980s TCHR Sinhala Colonisation 2000 K Sachithanandan SINHALA COLONISATION IN THE HEREDITARY TAMIL REGIONS OF THE ISLAND OF SRI LANKA An appeal to… Read more »
Navigating the Complex Terrain of Accountability in Sri Lanka
by PKI Global Justice Journal, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, Winter 2025 Table of Contents Malliha Wilson, Janakan Muthukumar, and Ashwini Vasanthakumar, Introduction: Navigating the Complex Terrain of Accountability in Sri Lanka Malliha Wilson, Enhancing Justice for Sub-National Groups: The Role of Universal Jurisdiction in Sri Lanka Maxwin Paul Rayen, The Politics of… Read more »
All Roads Run through Tamil Eelam
New Delhi must remember that any form of connectivity with Sri Lanka inherently involves the Tamil North-East. Tamil Guardian editorial, December 21, 2024 Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s visit to India saw him receive the grandest of receptions, in a sign that New Delhi is firmly pressing ahead with its plans to increase its footprint… Read more »
Locating Sri Lanka in Biden’s Indo-Pacific Strategy 2023
by Aditya Gowdara Shivamurthy, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, August 14, 2023 Introduction Since the establishment of their diplomatic relations in 1948,[1] Sri Lanka and the United States (US) have had a tumultuous relationship broadly spanning the following phases: From the 1950s to 1970s, the US viewed Sri Lanka through the lens of the Cold War;… Read more »
The Will to Freedom
An Inside View of Tamil Resistance by Adele Balasingham, London, October 6, 2001 Front Cover Maps Photos Introduction 1 New Horizons 2 Inside The Tigers’ Den 3 Turbulent Times in India 4 The Indo LTTE War 5 Hunted By The Indian Army 6 Premadasa – LTTE Talks 7 Living amid War in Jaffna 8 Tribulations in Vanni Post Script Annexure Abbreviations Back Cover… Read more »
The Tamil Nadu Model of Doing Business
From EVs to gorilla glass, the southern state bags marquee investments by Menaka Doshi, Bloomberg News India Edition Newsletter, October 3, 2024 This week: The Gujarat model may soon be replaced by Tamil Nadu, an excellent monsoon and Bengaluru’s new neighbor. Tamil Nadu vs. Vietnam It’s raining investments in Tamil Nadu, as the state nets… Read more »
SLCPJ: Thirty Years of Failure
Sri Lanka’s Domestic Accountability and Human Rights Processes by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice, London, December 2022 SLCPJ 2022-Dec-Failure-of-Domestic-Accountability-Mechanisms A brief overview of Sri Lanka’s history of domestic accountability and human rights processes, from 1989 to the present day. Introduction Whenever the possibility of an international investigation of human rights violations is raised,… Read more »
The Genesis of the Sri Lankan Unitary State
and the Call for Eelam Tamil Self-Determination by Sahithyan Thilipkumar, December 2023 Master Thesis at University of Zurich’s Faculty of Law Master_Thesis_Sahithyan_Thilipkumar_ZORA 6. Conclusion Contemporary discussions on the conflict in Sri Lanka often start with the country’s independence or the beginning of the war. My thesis examined how the basis of the conflict was laid… Read more »
The 2024 Winds of Change Have Not Yet Reached Southern Lanka
By Gogol G. on his/her blog ‘Voices from Exile,’ October 2, 2024We’re 3/4 of the way through the year of 2024. The year 2024 was considered the biggest year for democratic elections in the world. Not all elections are free and fair societies, so the real questions were/are how the elections of India, France, UK, European Union… Read more »
Washington’s Mixed Messages
Tamil Guardian editorial, October 12, 2024 It has been a week of mixed messaging from Washington on Sri Lanka. In Geneva on Wednesday, the United States as a leading member of the Core Group, successfully led a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for war crimes and called for an end to impunity… Read more »
USIP: Sri Lanka’s New President
Faces Daunting Challenges and High Hopes by United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC, October 1, 2024 KEY TAKEAWAYS Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s election is the culmination of Sri Lanka’s 2022 protests against the status quo. Addressing Sri Lanka’s economic and financial challenges will be Dissanayake’s most difficult task. He will have to carefully balance relations… Read more »
HRW: UN Rights Council Should Extend Crucial Mandate
International Monitoring, Investigations Critical Amid Ongoing Violations, Impunity by Human Rights Watch, New York, October 2, 2024 (Geneva) – The United Nations Human Rights Council should adopt a resolution on Sri Lanka to enable continued UN monitoring, reporting, and evidence collection of rights violations for future prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said today. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was elected on September 21, 2024,… Read more »
What Bangladesh Can Do to Get Back Laundered Wealth
by Tasneem Raihan, The Daily Star, Bangladesh, October 1, 2024 Over the past 15 years, people from various sectors—including politicians, businesspeople, bureaucrats, and police officials—have reportedly laundered over $100 billion abroad. This figure is likely underestimated, but even if it’s close to the actual amount, the implications are staggering. To put this into context, $100 billion is… Read more »
What Sri Lanka’s Election Means for India
Another political shake-up in New Delhi’s neighborhood shouldn’t have a major impact on bilateral ties. by Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Policy, Washington, DC, September 24, 2024 The economy was undoubtedly the central issue in Sri Lanka’s presidential election on Sept. 21—unlike in past votes, when ethnic divides between the Sinhala Buddhist majority and the Tamil minority… Read more »
Meet Sri Lanka’s Next President
by Michael Kugelman, Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief, Washington, DC. September 25, 2024 Presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake leaves a polling station after casting his ballot in Sri Lanka’s presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sept. 21.Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s victory in Sri Lanka’s presidential election on Saturday granted the… Read more »