Archive for the ‘Human Rights’

Howling

What shall I do, living in Peru, with this report of systemic failure in U.N. monitoring in Sri Lanka, how bureaucrats drove away from the disaster to come, buried hard- earned stats about civilian deaths and allowed themselves to be brow-beaten, harassed, shouted into silence while 40,000 humans died , mostly from battering shells rained from fighter jets? I belong to the family of nations. I have a vote in one democracy, dream of serving humanity, in the Secretariat of the United Nations. of inside influence, reform within, extracting the worm, of keeping a job close to the Secretary General, speaking into his ear, saying fix your flank, Man. Souls are howling. Repost This Article

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Many Shades of Accountability: The UN and Sri Lanka

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Photo courtesy United Nations In the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka tens of thousands of civilians were killed and no one has been held to account to date. This article though is not about the accountability of the Government of Sri Lanka(GoSL) for the killings. Hundreds, if not thousands, have already discussed, written and produced documentaries demanding GoSL for action on this count.  The UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts (PoE) put GoSL on the dock and recommended independent and credible investigations. Though little has changed in Government’s position on the issue, ‘accountability’ has continued to remain a thorn and has forced the Rajapakses to steer away from the ludicrous defense of ‘zero casualty’, ‘gun in one hand and human rights charter in the next’ and other such denial theatrics. It has compelled the Government to appoint ‘Lessons Learnt Commission’ (LLRC) and Military inquiry panels to buy time and to hope that things will fade away. But…

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#UPRLKA: Complete tweet archive and related visualisation around Sri Lanka’s UPR review

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Image courtesy Sydney Morning Herald On 1st November 2012, Sri Lanka was taken up for discussion as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). The last UPR was in 2008, and under scrutiny was Sri Lanka’s human rights record over the past four years, that significantly, saw the end of the country’s 27 year old war. A number of leading Sri Lankan and international human rights organisations, independent media including Groundviews and Vikalpa, as well as other leading voices on Twitter agreed to use #UPRLKA and #UPR14 hashtags in tweets around Sri Lanka’s case at the UPR. Since #UPR14 was a generic hashtag, #UPRLKA was encouraged as the primary hashtag to use when tweeting on Sri Lanka. Groundviews started to archive every single tweet (and retweet) with #UPRLKA on 29th October (Monday). At the time of writing, we have archived 3,592 tweets, the majority of which were posted on 1st November, leading up…

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“Nothing to call our own…” – The plight of the recently returned, resettled and landless IDPs in Sri Lanka’s North

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Photo by author Recently returned to Puthumathalan “As you drive past pile upon pile of corroding vehicles stacked one above the other, past pots, pans, sarees, slippers and plates (that once belonged to the people here), strewn all over the ground, and past the bullet and shrapnel splattered walls of homes ravaged by the war, on either side of the dusty, gravel roads of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK), you cannot help but feel the deep sadness and hopelessness that pervades the air around us.” According to the government, Menik Farm has been closed and all it’s inmates resettled. Having visited some of the most recently resettled, this seems to be the case, except for the fact that many have been relocated and not allowed to their places of origin due to military occupation of their lands[1], whilst others who have been returned to their places of origin, have been left without proper shelter, income or basic infrastructure and resources, to fend for…

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The Disappeared in Sri Lanka

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Photo from HRW A speech made today at a Vigil to Remember the Disappeared in Sri Lanka on The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, held from 5-6pm at the State Library of Victoria premises in Melbourne, Australia. I am honoured to have been asked to speak at this Vigil, to Remember the Disappeared in Sri Lanka on this important occasion, of The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Sri Lanka is party to diverse declarations and conventions of the United Nations on human rights. Therefore, the main responsibility of protecting peoples’ rights lies with the government of the day. Today’s vigil calls upon the government of Sri Lanka to release the names of those individuals, who surrendered to the government forces during the last phase of the armed conflict in 2009. This Vigil also demands the government of Sri Lanka to put an end to the practice of enforced disappearances. These disappearances can be categorised…

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Child Abuse: A Time for Deconstruction and Engagement

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The politics of child abuse is no different from the politics of human rights, women’s rights etc, etc. I use the word politics in the sense of labels we use to divide people: to elevate the rights of our preferred set of human beings to a pedestal far above everything else, to isolate them and then demand that they be protected. This disproportionate and extremist approach to rights is due to an inability to see rights in perspective. The foundation for all human rights is the spirit of brotherhood mentioned in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our humanity enjoins us not only to be human and defend human rights but also to be brothers and sisters to all our fellow human beings – not only to those on ‘our’ side of the divisions we have erected with our biases and prejudices. Whilst we do have individuals who champion ‘their’ constituency in Sri Lanka it is important…

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In conversation with M.A. Sumanthiran, TNA National List MP

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M.A.Sumanthiran, is a National List Member of Parliament from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Groundviews has carried in the past the Minister’s submissions to Parliament against the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, for which he faced the most outrageous heckling and insults within the legislature itself, and from fellow MPs from Government. With this and other media reports in mind, we begin the conversation on the obvious question – whether he thought it was worth it, in hindsight, to become a Member of Parliament instead of just sticking to his law practice. He noted that while the heckling and verbal violence is something he expected, the irrelevant nature of most debates came as a surprise. We then talk about the elections for the Northern Province, promised by the President to be held in September 2013. The TNA dismissed government concerns about the election being conducted sooner. As noted in the media, TNA spokesman and Jaffna District MP Suresh Premachandran asked,…

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American Foreign Policy and the HRC Resolution on Sri Lanka

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Image courtesy Onlanka News Obama and Human Rights The Obama administration did fight to get a seat on the Human Rights Council (HRC) in 2009; something that George W. Bush probably did not even contemplate. And, as David Bosco has noted, the US has been relatively active at the HRC since that time. Bosco goes on to say that “The United States has laid special emphasis on the Council’s use of special experts, individuals given a mandate to investigate some particular country or human rights theme.”[1] On the other hand, the Obama administration’s approach towards experts wanting to examine US policy has been rather mixed, especially “when UN experts request information about sensitive areas of national security and counterterrorism policy.”[2] Since the dawn of the Cold War, it has always been easy to question American intentions when it comes to human rights. That said, Obama’s escalation of drone attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere is disturbing. It reveals a very…

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Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity: Part Two

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[Editors note: Read Part 1 of this series Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity here] Introduction As mentioned by TSA,[1]the government has prepared a lengthy, heading-less, and inappropriate questionnaire[2] (in poorly written and, at times, incoherent Tamil) which has been used to obtain information about ex-combatants before they leave Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation Centres (PARCs). The document appears to place no genuine emphasis on emotional wellness at all; one need not be a mental health professional to see that. No information was given as to why this questionnaire was administered. The only visible indication on the document is RQ-SL (Adult). It appears that this questionnaire was intended to capture the pulse of ex-combatants prior to their release. Some Specifics[3] The introductory portion of Part A tells respondents to do the following: There are forty-two questions in Part A. None of which are “Yes” or “No” questions. Rather, respondents are expected to give…

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Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity

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Image courtesy The Hindu [Editors note: Read Part 2 of this series here, with PDFs of parts A-C of the questionnaire] The defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May of 2009 brought a new dimension to the ethnic conflict that has engulfed Sri Lanka since its independence in 1948.  During the final phase of the war, thousands of LTTE combatants surrendered to the military and were held in high security holding places. They were investigated by various units of the security establishment of Sri Lanka. Subsequently, the Military Intelligence Unit, Criminal Investigation Unit and the Terrorist Investigation Unit moved them to various Protective Accommodation Rehabilitation Centres (PARCs) situated in Jaffna, Polonnaruwa and Vavuniya to be “rehabilitated.” Apparently, all ex-combatants are required to answer a number of questions, either orally or in writing, before being released. The Social Architects (TSA) has obtained a copy of this questionnaire. Its content is telling. Methodology The government’s use of the…

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A man, a magistrate and 220 intimates: A reflection of the HIV response in Sri Lanka

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Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters, courtesy Council on Foreign Relations blog 2012: A man dies of AIDS in prison. A magistrate orders all 220 inmates that shared his ward to get tested. 2011: The National HIV/AIDS Policy was passed by parliament. Article 3.6 of the policy states that – “The Government of Sri Lanka promotes voluntary confidential counseling and testing, recognizing that mandatory testing would drive those at high risk of HIV infection beyond reach and prevent their access to public health preventive activities and other health services” Now, apparently the magistrate has no idea of this groundbreaking policy in the region – even India with their significant HIV burden still sit on their HIV Bill that was drafted in 2006. Yet, as we unpack this, should our concern be the magistrate’s ignorance of a relatively new policy or his apparent ignorance with regards to HIV transmission? In all fairness, he is treating this as he would any other communicable disease.  And…

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Extended time in police custody: Is it Necessary or permissible?

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Image courtesy JDS The decision of the Justice Ministry to amend the law relating to the period of detention of people arrested and to extend it to forty-eight hours instead of the existing twenty-four is alarming and unjustified to say the least. The statement of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka issued through its President is more alarming and also saddening because it points to the fact that the justice Ministry has not thought it necessary or fit to consult the said association before embarking on this course of unprecedented action. Secondly the Bar Association as they normally should, have studied the legal position here and in other civilized countries before rushing into readily express their unqualified approval to this kind of legislation. The casual way the President has reacted shows that the Bar Association has failed to consider this matter in depth before expressing its unqualified approval. It follows that the President will not speak on the subject in…

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Gotabaya Rajapaksa on disappearances in Sri Lanka

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Screen grab from BBC video In March after making a feature on enforced disappearances for the BBC, I made a further radio broadcast for our From Our Own Correspondent programme, later expanded for Groundviews, saying that I hoped Sri Lanka’s top leaders would be able to give answers about the fate of recent victims of enforced disappearance in Colombo and other cities. The Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has dashed any such hopes in my BBC interview with him broadcast earlier this week. He shed no new light on what has happened to Ramasamy Prabagaran, Nethiyas Chandrapala, Lalith Weeraraj, Kugan Muruganathan, Upali Mendis, Stephen Suthararaj or other unfortunate victims.  Instead he suggested lists of victims were inflated or that the disappeared were criminals or the victims of kidnapping for ransom.  As for any suspicion that the state was in some cases responsible, he said the government had no interest in doing such things. “No, that is wrong actually – you are…

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Surrendering and Disappearing: Where are they now?

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“Disappearance is far worse than death, because when a person dies, when I know that, so and so is dead, the story ends and somehow or other we close the chapter. But when a person has disappeared, it is an eternal suffering.”                                                                          (A.Santhipali, before the LLRC at Jaffna on 12th November 2010) In the controversial Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation, 53 LTTE cadres who surrendered during the final days of the war in May 2009 are alleged to have been disappeared and are reported to be under the category of ‘missing’. What happened to these 53 people? Their relatives and close kith and kin say that they were last seen and heard surrendering to the Sri Lankan Army. In the LLRC report, many family members of former LTTE cadres have complained that their husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters have disappeared after they surrendered to the Sri Lankan security forces. These family members still await…

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Discovering the White Van in a Troubled Democracy: An analysis of ongoing “abduction blueprint” in Sri Lanka

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The author demonstrating in Colombo against white van abductions. Photo courtesy Vikalpa.  In a country that has achieved so much in literacy, education and social development, is it not indeed unfortunate that “White Van” has frightened the entire nation? Appearance of a white van assures a disappearance of some one.  If you Google or do any other internet search  (or any media that is not controlled by the Government) on Sri Lanka, “White Van” resembles the Defence Authorities of our country.  Are we not ashamed of it? “White van operation” is the most used mode of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka at present. Enforced disappearance violates a range of human rights including  the right to security and dignity of a person, right to a legal personality, humane conditions of detention, right to fair trial, right to a family life and when killed, the right to life. The disappeared person is often tortured and in constant fear for life, removed from…

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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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