In October 2015, the Sri Lankan government took a giant stride towards reconciliation when it co-sponsored a historic resolution at the Human Rights Council. Despite howls of protest from fringe elements within the Sinhala and Tamil community who opposed it, the Resolution was defended stoutly by mainstream members of both ruling parties, the SLMC and… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Politics
TPC: Report of the Sub-Committee on Finding a Political Solution to the National Question
TPC Sub Committee Final Final Draft Jan 30 Introduction The Tamil People’s Council appointed a Sub-Committee on 27th December 2015 mandating it to present a report based on which public consultations for an acceptable political solution could be initiated. The Sub-Committee is comprised of representatives of political parties and civil society organisations represented in the… Read more »
The Political Challenge Of Carrying The People Through Transitional Justice
The mixed signals being given on the issue of the implementation of the UNHRC resolution is an indication that the response to it is continuing to evolve. The basic parameters are the need for the government to take the majority of the population along with it on the journey of transition from war to peace, and also to meet international standards whilst doing so. There are options for the government to consider in relation to international involvement, such as having international advisors, observers, or having international prosecutors and investigators to work in teams with Sri Lankan counterparts to obtain the evidence necessary to take to a court of law. At the same time it is also important for the government to seek to strengthen its credibility with the Tamil people by improving their lives on the ground in tangible ways.
US Ambassador to UN’s Remarks on Sri Lanka’s Disappeared
Remarks at the UN Security Council Arria-Formula Meeting on the Global Challenge of Accounting for Missing Persons Ambassador Samantha Power U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations U.S. Mission to the United Nations New York City January 27, 2016 AS DELIVERED Thank you, so much. Ambassador Rycroft, thank you for focusing the Council on this… Read more »
144 NGOs & Activists Call on GOSL to Stand by Intl Commitments
We the undersigned activists and organizations condemn President Maithripala Sirisena’s recent statements (BBC Sinhala Service, 21 Jan. 2015, Frontline, 14 Jan, 2015) wherein he appears to be indicating a withdrawal from the obligations the Government had committed to in the consensus resolution passed at the 30th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in… Read more »
SL Campaign Posters
https://twitter.com/SLcampaign/media Insights into the economy behind Sri Lanka’s “white van” abductions – bribes, extortion, human smuggling etc. — Jan.6, 2016
Channel 4 Visit to Sri Lanka
The agony of Sri Lanka’s carapace of peace Six years after the Sri Lankan civil war – @jonsnowc4 visits the site of some of its worst horrors. https://t.co/xUGpRSwJIU — Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) January 26, 2016 Our return to Sri Lanka’s killing fields has managed to coincide with two major developments – the first is… Read more »
Testing Time for Sri Lanka and Tamils
Yet another — a fourth new constitution — is in the making for the troubled Sri Lanka, which has had three different constitutions since independence, in the years 1948, 1972 &1976, all of which apparently failed to meet the national challenges, which prevailed in Sri Lanka. The refreshing picture in this iteration is the participation… Read more »
GTF: Alarmed at President Sirisena’s Recent Comments
GTF Press Statement 25 January 2016 Issued for immediate release PRESS STATEMENT 25 January 2016 Alarmed at President Sirisena’s recent Comments regarding International Involvement on Accountability Mechanism – Global Tamil Forum Global Tamil Forum (GTF) is deeply concerned and disappointed by the recent comments of Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena (BBC, January 21, 2016) concerning… Read more »
HRW: Fulfill Rights Council Call for Justice
by Human Rights Watch, January 25, 2015 (New York) – The Sri Lankan government should fulfill its commitments to the United Nations Human Rights Council by ensuring that foreign judges and prosecutors play a significant role in the mandated accountability mechanism for wartime abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 21, 2016, President Maithripala Sirisena… Read more »
FfT: Response to President’s Backtrack on Justice Process
Our Response to President Sirisena’s Backtrack on Justice Process for Sri Lanka Statement from Freedom from Torture on President Sirisena’s questioning of our 2015 torture evidence in BBC interview of 21 January 2016. Sonya Sceats, Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: “This is an outrageous reversal of promises made to torture survivors and the international… Read more »
Sri Lanka President Wants ‘Internal’ War Crimes Court
Video The president of Sri Lanka has said foreign judges and prosecutors should not be involved in an investigation into allegations of war crimes. In a BBC interview, President Maithripala Sirisena said the country did not need to “import” specialists. Both the army and the Tamil Tiger rebels are accused of atrocities in the civil… Read more »
Myths, Realities and Options for Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka
by Bhavani Fonseka & Luwie Ganeshathasan, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo, January 18, 2016 The 2015 political transition in Sri Lanka witnessed several promises for reform. One area in the reform agenda includes the processes and mechanisms for transitional justice. The resolution titled ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’ adopted at the… Read more »
Wigneswaran Calls For Shared Sovereignty Within A United Lanka
Full text of speech below and at http://tamildiplomat.com/npc-cm-calls-for-solution-on-the-basis-of-shared-sovereignty-within-merged-north-and-east/ COLOMBO: The Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’ Tamil-majority Northern Province has called for a new constitution which will be based on the principle of shared sovereignty between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority within a united Lanka. Giving the keynote address at a seminar on constitution making… Read more »
Sri Lanka’s Circuitous Road to Reform
Sri Lanka’s recent democratic gains are real; so are the challenges that lie ahead. Sri Lanka has seen significant political drama over the past 12 months. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the previous president who ruled for a decade was unexpectedlydefeated during last January’s presidential election. Voters reiterated their desire for change during August parliamentary polls, though Rajapaksa… Read more »
Peace Process Would Have Benefitted from Greater Intl Effort
From left: Bharath Gopalaswamy, Director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, moderates a discussion with Mark Salter, author of To End a Civil War; Erik Solheim, a former chief negotiator in the Sri Lankan peace process; and Richard L. Armitage, who has served as Deputy Secretary of State in the George W. Bush administration,… Read more »
Starvation in Syria Galvanizes U.N.
by Somini Sengupta, ‘The New York Times,’ January 15, 2016 UNITED NATIONS — The images of gaunt, hollow-eyed children in three besieged Syrian towns this week prompted even the usually cautious Ban Ki-moon to bluntly and publicly declare that the people starving civilians on the battlefield were committing war crimes. “Tomorrow,” Mr. Ban, the secretary… Read more »
We Need to Jettison Inherited Prejudices and Wrong Notions
by ‘Adaderana,’ Colombo, January 15, 2015 Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran says that an inclusive society cannot be built upon counter-terrorism mindset and state security perspectives and that a heavy military presence in the province lays the foundation for violence. Addressing the National Thaipongal Festival in Jaffna today, he said that the 16th goal… Read more »
PTA is Now an Expired Act – PM
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that his British counterpart David Cameron visited Sri Lanka during a “dark period” and that the government is inviting him to return now that the sun is shining on the country. “British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Sri Lanka during a dark period. We are now publicly inviting him to… Read more »
Time is Running Out
by TamilNet, January 13, 2016 Colombo regime, which came to power claiming ‘good governance’, has failed to address the urgent demands of releasing 200 Tamil political prisoners, reveal the whereabouts of more than 20,000 people in the past and the genocidal military occupying the Tamil homeland continues to seize lands from Mannaar to Ampaa’rai. “Unless… Read more »