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 »
Posts Categorized: Politics
TNA Demands Inclusion of Foreign Judges in War Crimes Investigation
by AFP in The Hindu, March 22, 2019 ‘The state of Sri Lanka cannot be an independent arbiter’ Sri Lanka’s Tamil National Alliance (TNA) demanded on Friday that foreign judges be included in a special court to investigate war crimes, a day after the UN again granted Colombo more time for a much-delayed probe. With… Read more »
Another Admiral in Abduction Racket
Another Admiral to be docked as CID busts spin-off Navy abduction racket by Maneshka Borham, Sunday Observer, Colombo, March 24, 2019 News Features The now famous CID investigation into the abduction and murder of 11 youth by a Navy extortion gang, helped sleuths to break open a secondary racket involving a separate group of naval… 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 Tamils Demand Foreign Judges in War Crimes Probe
by AFP in ChannelNewsAsia, March 22, 2019 UN WebTV of FM Tilak Marapana saying Sri Lanka will not have hybrid court. 22 Mar 2019 05:51PMCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main minority Tamil party demanded Friday that foreign judges be included in a special court to investigate war crimes, a day after the UN again granted Colombo more… 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 »
Muslims in Post-War Sri Lanka
An Opportunity Lost for Conflict Transformation by A.R.M. Imtiyaz, S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, Amjad Mohamed Saleem, V. Ameerdeen, Journal of Arts & Humanities, Maryland, USA, 2015 Abstract This paper examines the post-war Sri Lankan conditions among Sri Lanka Muslims, also known as Moors. The article will attempt to argue that state concessions to Muslim political… Read more »
Why has Sri Lanka’s Transitional Justice Process Failed to Deliver?
by Yasmin Sooka & Frances Harrison, London School of Economics Long Read blog, February 6, 2019 After persistent allegations of mass atrocities committed during the long running civil war, a new Sri Lankan Government in 2015 pledged to the international community that it would establish an ambitious reform and transitional justice programme. Four years later,… 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 »
The Need for Accountability in Sri Lanka’s Criminal Justice System
A Glance at Seven Emblematic Cases by Centre for Policy Analysis, Colombo, March 1, 2019 This report examines seven emblematic cases to evaluate the levels of accountability in the prosecution of cases of human rights violations within Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system. The report is structured in three parts. First, it establishes several recurrent trends… Read more »
Strawmanning Terror
Attempting to justify the Counter Terrorism Act By Mass Movement for Social Justice, ‘Daily FT,’ Colombo, February 27, 2019 The current President and Government were elected in 2015 on the promise of repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Since enactment in 1979, the PTA has been widely condemned for creating a draconian system featuring… Read more »
Master Plan for Economic Development in the Northern province Launched
by The Sunday Times, Colombo, February 22, 2019 The ‘Framework for an Economic Development Master Plan’ aiming to be a tool to create a ‘blueprint’ for long-term growth and development of the Northern Province was launched today at the Finance Ministry. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, addressing a gathering at the launch said during the last four… 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 »