Posts Categorized: Politics

‘We Ask for Power to be Shared to North-East’

The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan called for power to be shared to the North-East in order to reach a solution to the island’s enduring ethnic conflict. Speaking to the Sinhala language daily newspaper Divaina, in a piece headlined ‘We ask for the Tamil kingdom that the British handed over to… Read more »

TCSF: Submission to the Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms

TCSF submission to PRC [PDF, footnotes available here] ———–  TCSF: Submission to the Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms Tamil Civil Society Forum [on Scribd] ———– 1. Introduction TCSF is a network of Tamil civil society activists living and/or working primarily in theNorth – East of Sri Lanka. The forum has been active since 2010. The aim of… Read more »

Remarks of Senator Patrick Leahy at USIP

The Leahy Law makes clear that the United States will not tolerate or support foreign partners who violate the personal integrity, dignity, or due process of their citizens. People who order, commit, or cover up such crimes should be prosecuted and punished.

The law also makes clear that those who use torture or shoot prisoners for reasons of political expediency, or because justice systems are slow or inefficient, will not receive U.S. support.

That is what the law requires when a foreign government rejects the need for accountability.

MCC: New Threshold Programs with Sri Lanka

MCC Board Selects Five Countries for MCC Partnerships New Compacts with Cote d’Ivoire, Kosovo and Senegal, and New Threshold Programs with Sri Lanka and Togo https://www.mcc.gov/news-and-events/release/mcc-board-selects-five-countries-for-mcc-partnerships-121715 December 17, 2015 kellyrm /A_T/ mcc /D_O_T/ gov 202-521-3880 WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 17 — The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Board of Directors held its quarterly meeting on Dec. 16, 2015…. Read more »

Many Sri Lankan Thamils Now Feel Pessimistic

Sri Lankan Government Should Not Succumb to Empty Threats by Sinhalese Extremists The Commissioner of Human Rights Council Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein visited Sri Lanka on February 05, 2016.  Apart from meeting the President, Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader and others he also visited the North to see at first hand the post-war situation there. The government is… Read more »

Time to Rethink Protection as Syrian Mistakes Echo Sri Lanka

Residents of the Syrian town of Madaya are again reported to be near starvation. The United Nations is said to have underestimated the number suffering under blockades enforced by Bashar al-Assad’s government, adding to earlier accusations that the UN deliberately failed to highlight the problem. The revelations show much more needs to be done to implement Secretary-General Ban… Read more »

Sri Lanka Monitoring and Accountability Panel

http://war-victims-map.org/ Open Letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: ‘Sri Lankan Victims Deserve Real Justice’ Posted on February 4, 2016 by mapuser The MAP notes with concern the recent statement made by President Maithripala Sirisena (BBC interview, 21 January 2016) that he will “never agree to international involvement” in the special war crimes court. This statement… Read more »

FfT: What Does Success Look Like?

FfT survivor_briefing-final Sri Lanka is at a crossroads in the quest for accountability for torture and other serious human rights abuses committed during the country’s civil war (2002-9) and its aftermath. This briefing addresses the question of “what success looks like” for the internationalised justice process promised by the Sri Lankan government, from the perspective… Read more »

Observations by the UN Special Rapporteur on Transitional Justice

While the commitment on the part of certain individuals and sectors of Government is plain to see, and plans for sign-off and deliberation mechanisms within the cabinet have been made, the articulation of even the outlines of a comprehensive transitional justice policy requires more capacities than have been available up to now.

ICG: Transitional Justice Agreement between the Colombian Government and FARC

The announcement is silent on the nomination and appointment process for these courts – which would be largely staffed by national judges, with a minority international presence – and the facilities where sentences would be served, as well as the question of reparation for victims. However, it indicates a balanced and wise approach is being taken to the difficult dilemmas posed by a conflict that has inflicted suffering on more than six million victims, according to official reports, and a peace process that requires legal and political certainties for the parties and for Colombian society. FARC have gone farther than ever before by accepting the requirement that those most responsible for serious crimes must face restrictions on their liberties for up to eight years. The government has accepted that the new mechanism will have jurisdiction over all who participated in the internal armed conflict – including state agents.

ICTJ: Challenges to Implementing Reparations in Colombia

Background: Demobilization of paramilitary groups, Justice and Peace Law, Victims’ Law, and peace talks with the FARC Colombia continues to endure the longest internal armed conflict in the Western hemisphere. The conflict involves many actors and interests, and is a product of political ambitions, social and economic tensions, and competition for resources. In their efforts… Read more »

Sri Lanka: Looking for a Deal, Not Truth and Justice

Sri Lanka’s fledging transitional justice process is in trouble already. It’s getting impossible to paper over embarrassing public differences between the country’s President and its Prime Minister on the issue of war crimes. Sceptics of course say neither man really acknowledges the gravity and scale of the atrocities committed. The most immediate crisis is over… Read more »

Remarks by US State Dept. U/S Patrick Kennedy

Sri Lanka National Day  Remarks Patrick F. KennedyUnder Secretary for Management Organization of American States Washington, DC February 4, 2016 Thank you, Ambassador Kariyawasam, for that kind introduction, and the honor of your invitation. And I must say that I’m incredibly excited to visit your beautiful country later this month and see the progress already made… Read more »

The Morning After the Political Honeymoon

Of the many challenges confronting the Sirisena-Wickremasinghe government, one is the making of a new Constitution. Having started off on a ‘radical’ promise of facilitating a final and lasting solution to a bitter conflict, the new government appears to have realized that ultimate success of the proposed new constitution would principally depend on the retention of the provisions concerning the ‘unitary state’ and the prominence given to the Buddha Sasana. In doing so, considerable opposition to the new constitution would be effectively avoided, making it somewhat more convenient to construct and present to the people a constitution which, inter alia, abolishes the Presidency, while introducing a new electoral system, an enhanced fundamental rights-chapter, and a devolutionary framework which is only a modest improvement on the 13th Amendment. Never a fulfillment of the desire for federalism of the Tamil polity, the new constitution and the political leadership would only be able to promise a more equal and just society where the human rights of all will be protected.

Sri Lankan White Van Awareness Week

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2016/feb/05/sri-lankan-white-van-awareness-week-with-gary-scott-ludlams-hair?CMP=share_btn_tw  

Is Transitional Justice in Crisis?

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 »

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 »