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Groundviews

Human Rights

Year
Month
Human Rights, IDPs and Refugees

Iranaitheevu; a year of continuous protests to regain Navy-occupied land

Featured image provided by author After the election of the new government in 2015, the people of Iranaitheevu, forcibly displaced since 1992, finally thought they would be able to return home. Yet…

Ruki Fernando Ruki Fernando on 04/20/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Media and Communications, Science and Technology

Facebook responds to open letter from Sri Lankan civil society

Featured image courtesy Creed Politico A day after our open letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook representatives from Delhi, India, on his behalf, responded. The email is reproduced below in full. It is…

Groundviews Groundviews on 04/12/201804/12/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Media and Communications, Politics and Governance

RTI Reveals Lanka E News Blocked On Order from President’s Office

In December 2017, Groundviews received a list of 13 websites that had been blocked from 2015 onwards by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), via a Right to Information request. The documentation uncovered…

Raisa Wickrematunge Raisa Wickrematunge on 04/11/201804/12/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Media and Communications, Science and Technology

Open letter to Facebook: Implement Your Own Community Standards

Featured image courtesy Vox/Getty Images 10 April 2018 Colombo, Sri Lanka.   Dear Mark, In solidarity with and support of a letter signed by leading civil society organisations from Myanmar addressed to…

Groundviews Groundviews on 04/10/201804/12/2018
Development, Human Rights, Issues, Poverty

The Story of a Man who Built Five Cinemas: Combating the Culture of Poverty

Featured image courtesy thuppahi.wordpress.com The story of Veerappa Alagoo and his family is also that of one the most disadvantaged and discriminated against among the major communities of this island. Alagoo’s story…

Devanesan Nesiah Devanesan Nesiah on 04/09/201804/09/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Politics and Governance, Transitional Justice

UPDATE: Flip-flopping on Accountability – A Timeline

Featured image courtesy ada.lk On March 21, 2018, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tilak Marapana flagged the operationalisation of the Office on Missing Persons, the use of the Right to Information Act,…

Raisa Wickrematunge Raisa Wickrematunge on 03/23/2018
Development, Human Rights, Issues

Crippling civic organising, mobilising and resistance through Draft Amendment to the Act on NGOs

Featured image courtesy Sri Lanka Brief The author gratefully acknowledges insights and input from Attorney-at-law Ermiza Tegal. On February 20, 2018, the Cabinet decided to publish the repressive Draft Act to Amend…

Ruki Fernando Ruki Fernando on 03/22/201803/22/2018
Human Rights, Peace and Conflict, Reconciliation, Religion and faith

Through the Scorched Frames: The aftermath in Welekade

It happened on the morning of March 7, almost two days after the initial attacks in the Theldeniya and Digana areas. The elderly woman I first spoke to said that a Sinhalese…

Afrah Niwas Afrah Niwas on 03/20/201803/20/2018
Human Rights, Peace and Conflict

Sri Lanka’s Problematic Past with Commissions of Inquiry: Are We Repeating Mistakes?

On March 21, 2018 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights will provide an oral update to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the human rights situation in Sri…

Bhavani Fonseka Bhavani Fonseka on 03/19/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Religion and faith

The Political Culture, Not Facebook, is the Problem

Featured image courtesy AP Photo/Rukmal Gamage Organized mob violence against minorities has been a feature of the political landscape in Sri Lanka for several decades. In fact, one could say that it…

Dr. Vinoth Ramachandra Dr. Vinoth Ramachandra on 03/16/201803/16/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Religion and faith

STF brutality against Muslims in Digana: March 5

Featured image courtesy Pradeep Pathiran/AP This story is based on visits to both sites and testimonies of at least 10 survivors and about 5 eyewitnesses present As Sinhalese – Buddhist mobs were…

Ruki Fernando Ruki Fernando on 03/13/201803/13/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Politics and Governance, Religion and faith

On Kandy: How Myths about Minorities Underlie Violence

Featured image from Colombo Gazette A man belonging to the majority ethnic group was attacked by a youth from the minority ethnic group. Two days later, the mortally wounded man succumbed to…

Shamara Wettimuny Shamara Wettimuny on 03/09/2018
Human Rights, IDPs and Refugees, Post-War, Transitional Justice

One Year in Keppapilavu

The gates of the 59 Division Mullaitivu Security Forces Headquarters dominate the view 10 kilometres inwards from the Nandikadal lagoon and the Eastern coast. The protest tent a few metres away appears…

Groundviews Groundviews on 03/05/2018
Human Rights, Post-War

One Year in Kilinochchi

On February 20th, the protest by families of the disappeared in Kilinochchi passed the one year mark. Mothers, wives and fathers have sat by the side of the A9 road, inside the…

Groundviews Groundviews on 02/22/2018
Human Rights, Post-War, Transitional Justice

366 days – Roadside Protests in Kilinochchi

Featured image courtesy Amalini De Sayrah 366 days (as of 20th Feb) is a long time to be at a 24 hour roadside protest. That’s how long Tamil families of disappeared in…

Ruki Fernando Ruki Fernando on 02/22/201802/22/2018

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