Posts Categorized: Politics

HRW: Still No Justice on Sri Lanka War Anniversary

UN Pursues Accountability in Response to Government Inaction by  Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia Director, Human Rights Watch, New York, May 16, 2023 On May 18, Tamils in Sri Lanka will mark Mullivaikkal Memorial Day, in remembrance of those who died in the final stages of the country’s brutal civil war that ended in 2009. Thousands… Read more »

Sri Lanka’s New Anti-terrorism Law is Old Wine in New Bottle

If torture is to be eradicated in Sri Lanka the institutions of the magistrate and police need to be reformed. by J.S. Tissaiyanagam, The Diplomat, Washington, DC, May 5, 2023 Sri Lanka’s government is desperate to quash dissent. It faces opposition on multiple fronts – people protesting onerous austerity measures to combat an economic crisis,… Read more »

Amnesty: Widespread Protests re ATA

Widespread Protests in Sri Lanka Highlight Unifed Opposition to Anti-Terrorism Act by Amnesty International, May 2, 2023 In response to increasing protests throughout Sri Lanka in response to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), the proposed replacement legislation to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Amnesty International USA Asia Advocacy Director Carolyn Nash said: “The ATA poses… Read more »

USCIRF Recommends Sri Lanka for Special Watch List

by US Commission on International Religious Freedom, May 1, 2023 USCIRF Annual Report 2023 – Sri Lanka RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ■ Include Sri Lanka on the Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA); ■ Direct U.S. Embassy officials to… Read more »

America’s Bad Bet on India

New Delhi Won’t Side With Washington Against Beijing by Ashley Tellis, Foreign Affairs, New York, May 1, 2023 For the past two decades, Washington has made an enormous bet in the Indo-Pacific—that treating India as a key partner will help the United States in its geopolitical rivalry with China. From George W. Bush onward, successive… Read more »

Designation of Sri Lankan Governor

Due to Involvement in a Gross Violation of Human Rights PRESS STATEMENT ANTONY J. BLINKEN, US SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 26, 2023 The United States is designating Wasantha Karannagoda, Governor of North Western Province in Sri Lanka, pursuant to Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023, due to his involvement in a… Read more »

The Smell of Terror

by Tissaranee Gunasekera, Groundviews, Colombo, April 23, 2023 “On land a tiger, in the water a crocodile.” A Bengali proverb In Sri Lanka terror means Tamil or Muslim. When the J.R. Jayewardene government responded to the ethnic problem not with the promised political reforms but with repression and the PTA was born, the concept of… Read more »

Ancient Hindu Shrine on Kurunthoormalai Hill was Destroyed by Soldiers

led by Minister Vidura Wickramanayake states Jaffna District MP Sumanthiran in Parliament;Urges Govt not to Continue in Racist Direction 9903_25th+april+2023.pdf (amazonaws.com) (Excerpts from Speech made in Parliament on 25 April 2023 by Jaffna District TNA Parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran PC) Video of the speech at https://fb.watch/kcEU-YAWeR/ I am mentioning this Kurunthoormalai issue and according to the… Read more »

Sudan is at Risk of Unravelling from Decades of Injustice

by Azza Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Middle East Eye, April 25, 2023 The civil war raging in Khartoum is a culmination of the violence to which the Sudanese state has subjected its citizens over many years )n 13 April, I happened to send a family member based in the UK a short WhatsApp video of a… Read more »

Myanmar’s ‘Forgotten War’ Lurches Deeper into Horror

by Guy Dinmore, InterPress Service, April 17, 2023 KAYIN STATE, Myanmar, Apr 17 2023 (IPS) – Food is passed around a campfire, and a guitar strums as cool night air tumbles down mountain cliffs, relieving the jungle of its heat. A dozen or so young Myanmar activists – some having just travelled long distances evading military… Read more »

Analyzing Patterns of Violence in Colombia Using More than 100 Databases

by Valentina Rozo Ángel, Human Rights Data Analysis Group, California, US, September 20, 2022 In 2016, the Colombian Government and the guerrilla group “Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP)” arrived at a peace agreement, which included the creation of the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-repetition (Truth Commission;… Read more »

Canadian MP Gary Anandasangaree on IMF Bailout of Sri Lanka

by Liberal MP Gary Anandasangaree, Ottawa, Canada, March 21, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/live/bVp5wnT83mo?feature=share On Parliament Hill, Liberal MP Gary Anandasangaree discusses the International Monetary Fund’s bailout program for Sri Lanka to help bolster the country’s struggling economy. He is joined by Ahrabi Rajkumar (advocacy lead for People for Equality and Relief in Sri Lanka), Madura Rasaratnam (associate… Read more »

British Mercenary’s £4M Fortune Revealed

A former SAS commander whose mercenary business in Sri Lanka is under investigation for war crimes has left millions of pounds in his will. by Phil Miller, Declassified UK, March 14, 2023 One of Britain’s most rapacious mercenaries amassed a fortune worth £4m before his death in 2008, an investigation by Declassified UK has found. The soldier… Read more »

Sinhala-Buddhism & The Nation State Of Sri Lanka

by Lucian Arulpragasam, Colombo Telegraph, March 15, 2023 Lucian Arulpragasam Our Genetic Commonalities It has been proved by DNA studies conducted by Professor Kamani Thennekoon and others (cited in her article dated Feb. 2019 in The Island) that: “Most DNA studies comparing both the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils show no large genetic difference, suggesting that both populations… Read more »

IMF Approves Sri Lanka’s $2.9bn Bailout

by Agence-France Press in The Guardian, UK, March 20, 2023 President vows to get economy back on track through ‘prudent fiscal management and ambitious reform agenda’ The International Monetary Fund has approved Sri Lanka’s request for a $2.9bn bailout, raising hopes for an easing of its economic crisis. The IMF’s board confirmed it had signed… Read more »

The Politics Behind the CIA Controversy in Sri Lanka

by A. Jathindra, Eurasia Review, USA, March 16, 2023 Blaming foreign conspiracies engineered by the CIA, RAW and MI6 is commonplace in local politics. The nationalists in the Sinhala and Tamil camps invoke this trite trick when they find themselves with something of a hot potato. On Feb 22, former SLPP mouthpiece and leader of… Read more »

The Elusive Political Solution in Sri Lanka

by Meera Srinivasan, The Hindu, Chennai, India, March 9, 2023, undated March 10 Early February, a group of saffron-clad Buddhist monks gathered near the Sri Lankan Parliament and burnt a copy of the 13th Amendment. They were registering their rage and protest after President Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed to implement the law in full. He had… Read more »