Breaking the Silence on Batalanda: A Call to Action
For more than two decades, the Batalanda Commission report has languished in the archives of our nation’s history, ignored and forgotten by those who should have cared most [1]. But recent events,…
Author: MCM Iqbal
Impunity in Sri Lanka and the Commissions of Inquiry into Disappearances
The violation of the language rights following the enactment of Official Languages Act No. 33 of 1956, started the process of human rights violations of the Tamils of Sri Lanka which eventually…
The OMP and the Aspirations of Families of the Missing and Disappeared
The first permanent official body created to search and trace missing persons in Sri Lanka is the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) established under Act No. 14 of 2016. This was done…
Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Mission Impossible?
Photograph courtesy During the past few years much has been spoken and written about the need for reconciliation between the different communities in Sri Lanka. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)…
Enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka: Legacy and ongoing challenges
Enforced disappearance of persons remains one of the widely known human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The machinery that had been set up during the past to perpetrate such incidents appears to…
Coconut saplings for war widows – an innovative project worth emulating
Since the end of the war the Government and other organisations within and outside Sri Lanka have being helping the victims of the war in the North and the East to enable…
The Significance of Revolving Funds in the Rehabilitation of those Re-settled
Image courtesy World Bank Most those who have been resettled or re-located in the Wanni District of Sri Lanka after the war have found that they have to start life from scratch. …
Rehabilitation of Sri Lankan War Victims: Why NGOs should co-ordinate
Since the war ended in Sri Lanka in May, 2009, the wave of sympathy for the victims of the war resulted in philanthropists, members of the Sri Lankan diaspora, individual well wishers…
Co-operatives: A better option to channel relief to war victims in Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy Sampath Wijenayake It is no secret that many members of the Tamil diaspora are actively involved in helping the victims of the war in Sri Lanka in some way or the…
THE LLRC AND COMPLAINTS OF DISAPPEARANCES OF PERSONS
It was reported in the newspapers a few days ago that nearly a thousand individuals had come forward to make representations to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission during its sessions in …
Mass Graves: Nothing new to Sri Lanka
The recent discovery of mass graves at Ganeshapuram in Kilinochchi and at Nachchikuda in the Mannar Districts has been very much in the news during the past weeks. Such finds need not …
The latest Commission of Inquiry in Sri Lanka: Another Exercise in Deception
Louise Arbour of the International Crisis Group is reported to have said during an interview in the BBC that the government violated the laws of war by blurring the line between combatants…
Opportunities and challenges facing post-war Sri Lanka
The recent Parliamentary Election has resulted in the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance, obtaining a resounding victory at the general election. However, the number of seats won has fallen just short of a…
Still waiting for justice in Sri Lanka
Several Commissions of Inquiry into Disappearances of Persons (COIs) had been appointed by successive governments since 1990. Of these, the writer had been the Secretary to what is known as the Central…
Devolution of powers under the 13th Amendment in Sri Lanka: Fact or Fiction?
1. Introduction In the aftermath of the defeat of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, many expected the government to put forward the promised political solution to the problems of the Tamils which…