Madhura Rasaratnam writes: Policies driven by Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, which have been the bedrock of the Rajapaksas’ governance vision, are no longer financially or politically viable by Marisa Rasaratnam, Indian Express, April 17, 2022 Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajapaksa family is facing mounting public anger, calls for resignations and political defections amidst the island’s worst economic… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
Seizing the Moment in Sri Lanka
Tamil Guardian editorial, London, April 7, 2022 Sri Lanka is in crisis. Protests have spread across the South, demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It marks a remarkable turnaround in popularity, with demonstrations from the same electorate that less than two years ago delivered Rajapaksa a two-thirds majority in parliament. The speed in which protests have… Read more »
Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka
by UN Secretary-General, New York, March 31, 2011 POE_Report 2011 Executive Summary On 22 June 2010, the Secretary-General announced the appointment of a Panel of Experts to advise him on the implementation of the joint commitment included in the statement issued by the President of Sri Lanka and the Secretary-General at the conclusion of the… Read more »
Annaipoopathy and Mothers Fighting for the Disappeared
by Nillanthan Maha in his blog, March 30, 2022 [translated by Google Translate, with some edits] The mothers of the missing opposed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Jaffna last Sunday. They have been rudely treated by the police. Annai Bhupathi is considered to be the forerunner of Ammuthiya mothers in modern Tamil politics. Thirty-four… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget
Overspending and Underprotection by Daniel Alphonsus, ISAS South Asia Scan, National University of Singapore, November 18, 2021 Sri Lanka’s Post-War Defence Budget Sri Lanka’s internal and external security environments have changed considerably in the last decade. Internally, a three-decade long civil war ended, but the country experienced the first wounds of Islamic terrorism – the… Read more »
COVID-19: The Crossroads for Sinhala–Muslim Relations in Sri Lanka
by Mohamed Imtiyaz Abdul Razak & Amjad Mohamed Saleem, Journal of Asian & African Studies, London, June 2021 https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096211021873 Covid 19 Sinhala-Muslim Relations Abstract Sri Lanka’s ethnic civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers, and the government of Sri Lanka comprising the majority of the Sinhalese… Read more »
Sri Lanka in Moment of Crisis with Great Potential for Change
Senior political scientist By Himal Kotelawala, Economy Next, Colombo, March 15, 2022 ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has reached a moment of crisis with a great deal of potential for change, and the conditions for significant change are rife except for leadership, senior political scientist Prof Jayadeva Uyangoda said. In a phone interview with EconomyNext on… Read more »
CSST: Interview with Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan
We can only turn to India for help as it is the regional power by A. Jathindra, Centre for Strategic Studies, Trincomalee, March 5, 2022 Dr. Nirmala Chandrahasan is a distinguished academic and law professor, who has been involved in the constitutional process to resolve the national question for several years. She has specialised in… Read more »
Assoc. Thendral Written Statement re Genocidal Intent
by Association Thendral, France, February 7, 2022 Assoc Thendral written statement UNHRC Feb 2022 A/HRC/49/NGO/195 Genocidal Intent The intent of the Sri Lankan government to destroy, in whole or in part, the Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, is clear from several categories of evidence: 1) Documentary evidence including court case documents; 2) Legal inference based… Read more »
Statement of India at UNHRC re Sri Lanka
by Permanent Mission of India, Geneva, March 4, 2022 Video Statement of India under Agenda Item 2: Interactive Dialogue on OHCHR’s written report on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka during the 49th Session of the Human Rights Council (28 February – 1 April 2022), delivered by Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey, Permanent… Read more »
Statement by HCHR Michelle Bachelet
by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, March 4, 2022 Video Update and Interactive dialogue on Sri Lanka Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 49th session of the Human Rights Council 4 March 2022 Distinguished President, Excellencies, Council Members have received our written update on Sri Lanka (A/HRC/49/9). It… Read more »
UN Experts Call for Swift Suspension of Prevention of Terrorism Act
by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, March 2, 2022 UN human rights experts* have called for an immediate moratorium on the use of Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and urged the Government to substantively review and revise the legislation to comply with international human rights law. “There is a… Read more »
Verité: Res. 30/1 Implementation Monitor
by Verité Research, Colombo, February 2021 Implementation Status UNHRC Res.30.1 Feb 2021 Verite This brief contains an updated analysis of progress since UNHRC’s Resolution 30/1 passed in September 2015.
UN High Commissioner for HR Report on Sri Lanka
by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/49/9, Geneva, February 25, 2022 20220225 UNHCHR Report on Sri Lanka Human Rights Council Forty-ninth session 28 February–1 April 2022 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 Promoting reconciliation,… Read more »
What is India’s Response?
by Nillanthan Maha on his blog, Jaffna, February 19, 2022 [translated from the Tamil by Google Translate with some edits] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reportedly coming to Sri Lanka to attend the BIMSTEC conference** to be held in Colombo next month. To date, the Government of India has not officially confirmed. If Narendra… Read more »
British War Crimes Police Arrest Man Over Murder of Tamil Journalist in Jaffna
by Tamil Guardian, London, February 24, 2022 The Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team have arrested a 48-year-old man in Britain over the murder of Tamil journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan in Jaffna more than 20 years ago – marking the first time that British authorities have made an arrest over war crimes committed in Sri Lanka. In… Read more »
Universal Jurisdiction — the Most Difficult Path
To Achieve Justice in Sri Lanka by Andreas Schuller, JustSecurity, New York, February 24, 2022 (Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series on the spotlight to be placed on allegations of war crimes and other abuses in Sri Lanka during the Feb. 22 to March 23, 2021, session of the United Nations Human Rights… Read more »
How Britain Stole $45 Trillion from India
And lied about it by Jason Hickel, Al Jazeera, Dubai, December 19, 2018 There is a story that is commonly told in Britain that the colonisation of India – as horrible as it may have been – was not of any major economic benefit to Britain itself. If anything, the administration of India was a cost to… Read more »
It’s Time for the Human Rights Council to Act on Sri Lanka
Former UN High Commissioner Pillay Says by Laurel B. Fletcher, JustSecurity, New York, February 15, 2022 (Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series on the likely spotlight to be placed on allegations of war crimes and other abuses in Sri Lanka during the next session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, beginning Feb…. Read more »
What Makes Amnesty’s Apartheid Report Different?
by Maureen Clare Murphy, The Electronic Intifada, February 3, 2022 What makes Amnesty International’s new report determining that Israel practices the crime of apartheid against Palestinians any different from those that came before it? Certainly, Israel’s “hysterical” reaction – (in the words of one Haaretz headline) – to the Amnesty study is notably different from its relatively understated response to similar… Read more »