by Thambu Kanagasabai, LLM London, Former Lecturer in Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 22, 2022 Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka and Tamils all over the world are very deeply concerned in relation to Sri Lanka’s past human rights violations including war crimes and the very minimal steps taken by Sri Lanka so far… Read more »
Posts Categorized: International
Child’s Guide To Ranilnomics
Proposed Debt Restructuring Will Pose More Issues Than Answers By W A Wokewardema, Colombo Telegraph, September 26, 2022 Dr. W.A Wijewardena Aseni, whiz kid of economics, and her grandfather Sarath Mahatthaya, ex-official of the Finance Ministry, are continuing their conversation of the economics of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, tagged Ranilnomics. Previously, they discussed the ideological battle… Read more »
Photos of Menik Farm Detainees 2009
From the files of Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam. Ph.D. (Cornell) Do we know where all these detainees are? Can UNHCR confirm they were all released? Photo_FemaleYouthDetainees_MenikfarmMovie6 Photo_MaleYouth Detainees_Menikfarm_Movie7 Where are the pictures of all the other detainees? From Dr. Ethirveerasingam: These photos were sent to me by a UN Refugee official monitoring the Vavuniya camp. I think… Read more »
OCHA Multi-Dimensional Crisis Situation Report
by Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, New York, September 16, 2022 PDF report with map at Sri Lanka Multi-Dimensional Crisis Situation Report No. 5 This report is produced by the OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) on behalf of the ISCG. The updates below cover activities carried out between 09… Read more »
The Military Still Runs the Show
In Sri Lanka The international community has a part to play in ending its culture of impunity. by Viruben Nandakuman, Foreign Policy, Washington, DC, August 4, 2022 Viruben Nandakumar is an editor at the Tamil Guardian. In the early hours of Friday, July 22, hundreds of Sri Lankan soldiers marched through the country’s capital. They… Read more »
What do Imaginations of Haunted Landscapes Tell us about Everyday Politics?
by Erol Saglam, Takhayyul, University College London, Sept. 7, 2022 How should we then make sense of this two-dimensional engagement with the past, that is one denying the historicity of the societal violence and its destructive aftermath and the other reminiscing it discreetly and in transfigured ways? I could not help but ask whether, alongside… Read more »
Letter to Core Group at UNHRC
by Tamil politicians and civil society, Sri Lanka, August 28, 2022 August 28, 2022 To: Foreign Ministers of the Sri Lanka Core-Group at the UN Human Rights Council Dear Foreign Ministers, Since you take the lead on Sri Lanka as members of the Sri Lanka Core-Group at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), we from… Read more »
The Politics of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)
and PTA Reform by Alan Keenan, Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace & Justice, March 2022 Politics of PTA and PTA Reform Mar 2022 Keenan PDF Why does Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) matter? What do we know about how the current Sri Lankan government is using the PTA as a tool to maintain… Read more »
Sri Lanka at Critical Juncture
UN report urges progress on accountability, institutional and security sector reforms by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, September 6, 2022 GENEVA (6 Sept 2022) – Sri Lanka’s new Government should embark on a national dialogue to advance human rights and reconciliation, a UN report urges today, calling for accountability and deeper institutional reforms… Read more »
HCHR: Situation of Human Rights in Sri Lanka
by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, September 6, 2022 A_HRC_51_5_AdvanceUneditedVersion-4 Advanced Unedited Edition A/HRC/51/5 Human Rights Council Fifty-first session 12 September–7 October 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 Summary Sri Lanka is experiencing… Read more »
The IMF’s Staff-Level Agreement with Sri Lanka
by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu, Chennai, September 5, 2022 What are the pre-requisites IMF laid down before the Sri Lankan government? How has India reacted to the agreement? The story so far: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on September 1 announced a staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka, months after the island nation’s economic crisis intensified… Read more »
A Desperate Smokescreen
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, August 28, 2022 As the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council nears, Sri Lanka’s Sinhala leaders scramble to present the country as on the verge of a democratic breakthrough. Plans to reform Sri Lanka’s draconian counter-terrorism legislation, decriminalise same-sex relations, and delist select Tamil diaspora organisations have been met… Read more »
US Congress on Sri Lanka July 2022
by Reps. Danny Davis & Bill Johnson, Co-Chairs, Caucus on Religious & Ethnic Freedom in Sri Lanka 20220719 Johnson Davis letter to Sec Blinken *** by Senator Sherrod Brown JULY 20, 2022 BROWN STATEMENT FOLLOWING SRI LANKAN PARLIAMENT VOTE WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) issued the below statement after the Sri Lankan… Read more »
‘A Moment of Opportunity’
Fall of Sri Lankan president raises victims’ hopes by Hannah Ellis-Peterson in Colombo and Rubatheesan Sandran in Jaffna, The Guardian, UK, July 29, 2022 Rights groups say they have a dossier of evidence against Gotabaya Rajapaksa – and a renewed appetite to bring him to account Tamil women holding a protest in Jaffna soon after… Read more »
ITJP: Criminal Complaint against Sri Lankan ex-President in Singapore
by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, July 24, 2022 ITJP Press-release-final-24-July-2022 Johannesburg: Lawyers from the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) have submitted a criminal complaint to the Attorney General of Singapore requesting the immediate arrest of former Sri Lankan President, Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for war crimes. The 63-page complaint argues… Read more »
Diaspora Groups Call for Singapore to Investigate ex-President
by People for Equity & Relief in Lanka, July 26, 2022 20220726 Joint Press_Release_Request_to_Investigate_Gotabaya_Rajapaksa Press Release: Global Coalition of Tamil and Human Rights Groups Urge Singapore’s Attorney General to Investigate Gotabaya Rajapaksa Washington D.C.; July 26, 2022 — Seventeen Tamil and human rights organizations from around the world issued a joint letter today, urging Singapore’s… Read more »
Request to Singapore to Investigate Gotabaya
by 17 NGOs, July 26, 2022 Request-to-Investigate-Gotabaya-July-26-2022_FINAL-1-1 People for Equality and Relief in Lanka Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research Australian Centre for International Justice Center for Justice and Accountability Centre de Protections des Droits du Peuple Tamoul Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America Global Rights Compliance Human Rights Watch International Commission of Jurists International… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Former President Must be Investigated for War Crimes
by Meenaksha Ganguly, Washington Post, July 22, 2022 (also available at Sri Lanka’s former president must be investigated for war crimes | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org) COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — There was satisfaction, and even glee, among many Sri Lankans when Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the widely unpopular president, fled the country by military jet in the dead… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Road Ahead is Hazardous
An exclusive interview with Ambassador K.P. Fabian by A. Jathindra, Centre for Strategic Studies – Trincomalee, July 4, 2022 Ambassador K.P. Fabian served in the Indian Foreign Service between 1964 and 2000, during which time he was posted to Madagascar, Austria, Iran, Sri Lanka, Canada, Finland, Qatar, and Italy. During his time in the diplomatic… Read more »
Unresolved National Question Impaired Sri Lanka’s Economic Progress
:Sambanthan by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu, Chennai, June 20, 2022 Senior Tamil leader points to the costs of war, and political solution being central to economic recovery. Addressing Sri Lanka’s Tamil national question is imperative for the island nation’s recovery from the crushing economic crisis it is facing, veteran Tamil leader R. Sampanthan said, contending… Read more »