2023: A Year of Struggle for Survival
In 2023 Sri Lanka was struggling to come out of the economic meltdown with aid from the IMF, which required many austerity measures that impacted severely much of the population. People had…
Year: 2023
Murder for Money: The Case of the Forcibly Disappeared Navy 11
Brief Successive government have promised that none of Sri Lanka’s “war heroes” would be tried for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa went as far as pardoning…
Prof. Neil DeVotta on the Executive Presidency, Majoritarianism and the State of Democracy
The next two years will be crucial for Sri Lanka; a presidential election will be held in the latter part of 2024 and parliamentary elections will be held in 2025. If the…
Elegy for the Extended Family
Mosab, reading your post today of the dead from an airstrike in Khan Younis, cousins, uncles, aunts, six members of your extended family, six degrees that separate us, I felt at…
The Lesser Known Lives of Deer in Colombo
A bright yellow road sign on a quiet suburban road, more than 20 km from Colombo, warns oncoming motor traffic of an unlikely pedestrian. This area has become an odd choice of…
A Maha Sanga-led Reconciliation Initiative
The last few weeks witnessed a flurry of activity that brought to light a quiet initiative which has been progressing during the past year in terms of the post-war reconciliation process in…
Justice Undone in the Mirusuvil Massacre Case
It was one of the rare cases of justice being served – Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake was tried and convicted for the murder of eight civilians in Mirusuvil in Jaffna in 2000. Witnesses…
Zionism Plus Impunity: The Mathematics of Israel
When the Secretary General of the UN condemned the Hamas attack of October 7 and cautioned the world to see it in context, he came under harsh criticism from Israel. But he…
Why Deshabandu Tennakoon Must Not Continue as Acting Police Chief
On December 14, 2023, the Supreme Court delivered a historic judgement, holding Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon personally responsible for torture. Before this judgement, there have been reports of…
Christmas During the Civil War
Coming from a Christian family, Christmas is one of the most important festivals for us. I was born in Navaly village in Jaffna to a wealthy Christian family. My grandparents celebrated Christmas…
Mourning Children, Tyrant
Nobody will mourn you, tyrant, when you’re gone, when the coffin lowers into the grave. Nobody will visit the memorial and there will need to be guards placed on each…
A Politics of Conscience
On August 14, 2006 the Sri Lankan air force bombed an orphanage in Vallipunam killing 61 schoolgirls. The Rajapaksa administration insisted that the location was a LTTE training camp and the victims…
US, Israel, Gaza and Oil
The US-Israeli war in Palestine Gaza declared after October 7 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cover up the failure of Israel’s security apparatus to take action on intelligence warnings from Egypt…
Freedom of Movement in Sri Lanka and Human Rights Commission
On December 8, 2023, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) determined that the Navy had violated my right to freedom of movement by blocking me from traveling to the remote…
To Pledge Again
The math is simple. There are fifteen members of the UN Security Council. Five are permanent, the rest elected for two year terms. Together they represent the enforcement wing of the…