A public conversation on criminalising disinformation has re-emerged in Sri Lanka. The government recently announced that it was considering new proposals for a law to curb false and misleading statements. This conversation…
Why do Sri Lankan human rights advocates repeatedly place their trust in an imperfect and highly politicised inter-state human rights mechanism year after year? For many of us working in the domain…
Words can, and often do, harm others. A society is usually justified in restricting speech that causes harm. The nature and extent of such restrictions depends on the type of harm involved.…
Seven months have passed since the arrest and detention of human rights lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah. When he was taken into custody on 14 April, his friends and family, and some within his…
Déjà vu? Once upon a time, a mighty government with a two-thirds majority in parliament engaged in political opportunism, and radically changed the constitution of Sri Lanka. It ignored more than a…
Sri Lanka’s president issued a new set of Emergency Regulations on 22 April 2019. This note explains the contents of Emergency Regulation 15, which concerns the ‘control of publications’, and certain other…
As we reflect on Sri Lanka’s 71st Independence Day, many things that have political currency come to mind. Free education and healthcare, a reduced cost of living, and anti-corruption are usually among…
Introduction The past decade produced two critical moments of transition in Sri Lanka. On 19 May 2009, a 30-year war came to a brutal end with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers…
We have grown to either love or hate the Pusswedilla franchise. Most relish it as high (even low) entertainment with the added thrill of political parody. Some dismiss it as poor satire.…
Image courtesy News First ‘We were anonymous, and even then I had the sense that cities were yielding; that they moved over and made room.’ ― Sheridan Hay, They are often warned…
Image courtesy Mind Adventures Theatre Company We may applaud Mind Adventures’ Paraya for many things. We may celebrate it for its visual mastery, its bold dialogue and the intensity and physicality in…
Photo courtesy Vikalpa September 8, 2010 marked a watershed event in the constitutional history of Sri Lanka. The enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution on this ill-fated day brought to…
