Archive for the ‘Advocacy’

Giving reconciliation in Sri Lanka a better chance: A Shadow Action Plan for the LLRC

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Image courtesy Centre for Human Rights The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Final Report contains many positive recommendations which merit immediate attention. Unfortunately, the present administration has given virtually no indication that it has any intention of seriously engaging with these recommendations. With the impeachment of the Chief Justice, the unwarranted arrest of University of Jaffna students and the recent murder of dozens of Welikada inmates, it’s obvious that human rights trends in Sri Lanka are still moving in the wrong direction. Furthermore, Government – TNA talks have gone nowhere; this is a political negotiation on life support that looks more like absurd theatre than a genuine discussion. All of this is extremely unfortunate, but underscores the fact that the present administration fears the political consequences of truly endorsing national reconciliation and promoting a lasting peace. Now, the present administration is seeking to strike a balance. It wants to avoid further criticism of its human rights record by pretending…

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Who Killed Razeek? And Why? Unanswered Questions Two Years After His Abduction

Funeral of Pattani Razeek | Photo courtesy of Deutsche Presse Agentur

(Editors’ note: The report below is a follow-up from the last update about Mr. Pattani Razeek’s case, which was published on 17th August 2011 and can be read here.) 1. Background and key events: Mr. Pattani Razeek was a Sri Lankan Human Rights Defender who disappeared on 11th February 2010. At the time of his disappearance, Mr. Razeek was the Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund (CTF) (www.ctfsrilanka.org) and an Executive Committee Member of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) (www.forum-asia.org). For over a year following the disappearance, there was no credible action by the police to investigate the case despite several leads. The chief suspect Shahadbeen Nowshaadh was not arrested until July 2011, despite being identified by police in May-June 2010.  The family, Puttlam Mosque Committee and those campaigning for justice in the case believe that the failure to arrest Nowshaadh is due to the involvement of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, the Minister of Trade &…

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DISAPPEARANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS & POLITICAL ACTIVISTS LALITH KUMAR WEERARAJ AND KUGAN MURUGAN ON 9TH DECEMBER 2011

Two Sri Lankan human rights defenders and political activists disappeared in Jaffna in the North of Sri Lank on 9th December 2011. There is still no credible news of their whereabouts and human rights groups have voiced serious concerns about their safety. Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Mr. Kugan Muruganandan were last seen by relatives, leaving Mr. Muruganandan’s house at Avarangal Jaffna, at 5 pm on 9th December. They have not been seen since. Shortly before their disappearance Mr. Weeraraj and Mr. Muruganandan had been organizing a press conference to be held in Jaffna on 10th December, international human rights day.  On 10th December, a group of HRDs from the South who were travelling to Jaffna to attend a peaceful protest to mark human rights day were stopped for several hours by the police and prevented from attending the protest. (Detailed report available at http://groundviews.org/2011/12/14/42-political-activists-and-hrds-detained-and-prevented-from-participating-in-peaceful-protest-in-jaffna-town-on-human-rights-day/) Background of the Two HRDs Mr. Lalith Kumar Weeraraj is a political activist and human…

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42 Political Activists and HRDs Detained and Prevented from Participating in Peaceful Protest in Jaffna Town on Human Rights Day

On December 10th 2011, a group of 42 HRDs and political activists from the South of Sri Lanka were detained by police in the Northern town of Jaffna and prevented from attending a protest to mark international human rights day in Jaffna. Events to mark Human Rights Day including protests in other parts of Sri Lanka such as in Colombo, Kandy and Kurunegela were allowed to take place without disruption. However in Jaffna the police detained HRDs travelling to the protest and also attempted to disperse those gathered at the main protest venue in Jaffna town. This is the second major protest organized in Jaffna in recent years following the protest organized by the Free Media Movement against the attack on Uthayan News Editor G. Kuganathan in August 2011. This protest was also held amid tight security controls and the police attempted to disrupt the protest. The protest on December 10th 2011 was organized by a collective of civil society…

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Remembering Nigel as Ferociously as he Lived

In Memoriam: Charles Nigel De Silva

Prior to Nigel’s passing everytime I heard a song by ABBA I angrily turned it off, Nigel loved ABBA – if he wasnt singing or dancing along he was playing it at full volume. After Nigel passed, everytime I hear a song by ABBA I crank up the volume and sing with as much gusto as I can muster. This is how I remember him. Charles Nigel De Silva’s life was prematurely ended a year ago at the age of 40. He was a proud Josephian with more extra curricular activities than academic achievements. After leaving school he travelled the world on a cruiseliner working as a chef. He was young, vibrant and living out every opportunity he had. A horrific experience, better left  unsaid, resulted in Nigel later testing as HIV positive around 1998. His life then began to change at a frantic pace. He lost his job, family ties, emotional support and even the roof over his head….

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Sri Lankan Women Human Rights Defenders: Linking Past and Present Challenges

Photo by Eranga Jayawardena

  As another year begins to draw to a close on post-war Sri Lanka, we can take stock of which changes, or the lack of change, we see around us. The full scope of human rights are still not available to civilians living in areas formerly controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which are now tightly controlled by the Sri Lankan armed forces, with strong restrictions prevailing on their right to move freely and their right to assemble, amongst other fundamental rights. Pressing issues such as hundreds of unsolved cases of disappearances, and the rights of detainees and ex-detainees – particularly those of former LTTE cadres – remain unresolved since 2009, which marked ‘the end’ of the civil war in Sri Lanka. The cost of living has nearly crippled much of the population, and yet, highways, new roads, and bridges are blossoming all over the island with unprecedented speed and efficiency. Sri Lanka remains teetering on the…

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Post-war situation in Northern Sri Lanka & Prospects for Reconciliation

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Changes since the end of the war: 30 months after the end of war, more people travel between the once off limits North[i] and the South and many of the travel restrictions have been eased. The dreaded Medawachiya checkpoint is no more, and since 2010, we have not taken a flight or ship to Jaffna, travelling by road instead. Displaced people who were detained for about 6 months have now been allowed freedom of movement and many have been allowed to go back to their places of origin. Many youth detained in “rehabilitation” centres have been released and allowed to go back to their families and communities. Death certificates have been issued to few of the people killed during the war. Few schools, hospitals, and some main roads and bridges have been built and glamorous ceremonies held to open these by government and military officials. Three major elections have also been held in the North. But much remains to be…

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Women Left Behind: Truth Commissioning in Sri Lanka

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A mother displaying the photographs of his sons which are missing during the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) session in Trincomalee, December, 3-5, 2010. Photo courtesy Centre for Human Rights The power and promise of national exercises like the LLRC lie in the way that they can access the voices of those who have not traditionally been heard, and use them to build a more representative and inclusive collective memory. Yet for Sri Lanka’s Tamil women, the LLRC simply reaffirms bad old habits, writes Jo Baker [i] In the lead up to the release of the report by Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), strong concerns have been publicly raised about the value of a process that aims to build a clear picture of the conflict, without fully including or representing those who were most directly affected. This has led to important questions regarding who has been heard, how their concerns have been addressed, and whether they will…

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Destroying monuments for those killed & disappeared: The Catholic Church and the Sri Lankan Government

H.M Ranjith

On the evening of 26th October 2011, Fr. Srilal Manoj Perera (appointed by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith to be in charge of land issues for Archdiocese of Colombo), Fr. Prasad Perera, Parish Priest of St. Cecelia’s Church, Raddoluwa (in the Colombo Archdiocese), members of the Parish Council and a lawyer representing them, took the  unprecedented step of requesting that the Police destroy a nationally and internationally recognized monument for disappeared persons situated in the Raddolugama-Seeduwa junction in the Gampaha district in Sri Lanka. This was on the eve of the 21st annual commemoration for disappeared persons held annuallyon the 27th of October at the site of the monument, with the participation of families of disappeared persons, religious leaders, political leaders, human rights activists and concerned citizens. This request to destroy the monument was preceded by several attempts by Fr. Prasad and the Parish Council to disrupt and discourage the use of the monument and the commemoration. These attempts included the construction…

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Women and Media Collective Press Conference on Violence Against Women

The Women and Media Collective held a press conference last week to address the incidence of violence against women with regard to the ‘grease devil’ phenomenon. The Collective also stressed that it wanted a ‘clear dialogue’ on the matter in order to militate against sensational reportage as well as further trivialisation of the issue. The main points expressed by the Collective were the following: – The State has an obligation to ensure the protection of women, to set about establishing impartial investigations and strengthen law enforcement, particularly with respect to the ability of the police to maintain law and order. – “If women are insecure, it is also an indictment on the community and our society at large. We want law enforcement to work closely with communities and strengthen mechanisms that would ensure safety of communities”. – It is necessary to avoid the “policing of women in the guise of dealing with this issue”, particularly to prevent restriction or confinement….

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Fr. Jim Brown and Mr. Vimalathas: Five years after disappearance, where are they and what has happened to the investigation?

Fr. Tiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown | Image courtesy of www.transcurrents.com

  Fr. Jim Brown, a Catholic Priest from diocese of Jaffna in Northern Sri Lanka and his associate, Mr. Vimalathas, a father of five people, seem to be just two names and statistics in the long list of disappeared in Sri Lanka, particularly after the escalation of violence and war in the North since 2006. I didn’t know either before they disappeared, but had got to know about them and the families after they disappeared. I remember the empty and distraught looks on the children of Vimalathas in their small house, who had not realized they will not see and hear from their father again for so long. I remember the hope the parents of Fr. Jim Brown always shares whenever I meet them that their beloved son will return. Background to the disappearance: Fr Jim Brown and Vimalathas went missing on 20 August 2006 amid escalated warfare between the security forces and separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)….

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Who Killed Razeek?

Funeral of Pattani Razeek | Photo courtesy of Deutsche Presse Agentur

Mr. Pattani Razeek’s case is a rare instance where the body of a disappeared person has been found, based on information given by arrested suspects. The arrest of key suspects is itself a rare occurrence in the thousands of disappearance cases in Sri Lanka. It is even more unusual that people connected to a Minister in the ruling regime would be arrested for a serious crime. Razeek’s case had generated mass outrage in his home district of Puttalam. Since the disappearance, protests, signature campaigns, posters and leaflet campaigns were conducted. The family and local Muslim leaders played a prominent role in the campaign. Their efforts were supported at the national level by Razeek’s friends and colleagues, who monitored the investigation and court proceedings, the exhumation, post mortem process and the funeral. 62 Sri Lankan civil society activists including Buddhist and Christian clergy, senior lawyers, academics, media personnel and human rights defenders signed a statement calling for justice in this case….

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Another Failed Attempt at Justice or the Greatest Hope Yet for Reconciliation: What Can Sri Lanka Learn from Colombia’s New Victim’s Law?

Downtown Bogota, Plaza de Bolivar

At first glance, Colombia and Sri Lanka have little in common aside from a brutal history of violence. Nevertheless, the few but important similarities mean that by studying how the other moves towards national reconciliation and the reestablishment of Government legitimacy could prove to be beneficial. A case in point is the revolutionary new Victim’s Law approved by the Colombian Congress this past June that just might prove be an interesting case study for Sri Lanka. Civil War in the Andes Colombia is a vast country broken apart by soaring mountain ranges, sprawling grasslands and the depths of the Amazon jungle. For the past four decades a vicious war between peasant land movements, paramilitary armies, government forces and armed gangs have plagued the countryside leaving hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. Fueled by drug money, Colombia’s war morphed overtime into a snake pit of drug lords, organized crime, and the markedly non-political remnants of once powerful movements. In 2002,…

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21 Years of Hopeless Existence

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Image credit PaperMag For about 21 years, more than 100,000 Internally Displaced People from the Northen Province of Sri Lanka have been languishing in camps.  Mainly from the Muslim community, these people were forced out by the LTTE for crimes of not being Tamil.  In the wake of post conflict debates about reconciliation and rehabilitation, there are now challenges for future resettlement and rehabilitation of this affected community. June 20th was World Refugee Day.  For many it is about remembering the plights of many people the world over, who today are without rights, a state and an identity.  You can picture the Palestinians or the Rohingas or the Kurds.  Over the past week, in Sri Lanka, international attention has turned once again to the 300,000 refugees (or internally displaced people) after the end of the conflict in 2009.  Despite all this attention, very little is said about the plight of the other major victims and refugees of the 30 year…

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Sri Lanka’s Post-War Crisis: War Crimes and Channel 4

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Following the broadcast of ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ on the 14th of June and its public release – for seven days – on Channel 4’s website, there has been an overwhelming international reaction to what has been described as ‘brutal,’ ‘horrific’ and ‘shocking’ footage of war crimes. In an effort to collate the reportage following the release of the documentary, we have created a bundle that features the most significant news reports, blogs, comments and videos by international networks, which have been published on the web over the last few days. We have clipped several sources that include responses by ambassadors, civil servants and soi-disant advisors to the government. The news agencies featured in the bundle include the Guardian, New Statesman, Independent, Telegraph, Hindu, Hindustan Times, International Business Times and numerous other sources including leading blogs from Sri Lanka. Groundviews will continue to curate the bundle and upload new reports as soon as they are published. Please note that each…

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About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

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