From the tiger’s den to an open prison
Last year, I had helped a boy from Killinochi who was arrested in Pettah and kept in inhumane conditions, worse than a caged animal, in Welikada Prison. Treatment that should not be…
Author: Ruki Fernando
Current ground situation in Mannar, Sri Lanka
View Larger Map Ruki Fernando of the Law and Society Trust speaks about the present situation in Mannar, Sri Lanka. Click here for the video in Sinhala and here for more videos…
Madhu Shrine: the struggle to preserve the sanctity of a sacred shrine and humanitarian space
Presently located in areas under the control of the LTTE, but in the frontlines of the recent battle fronts, the Madhu Shrine has now become a prized target to claim in the…
Sri Lankan refugees in India: “Are we the ones to bear this shame, are they the sacrificeâ€
I remembered John Denver’s passionate song dedicated to the refugees called “Fallen leaves”, as I sat in the Chennai airport, trying to make sense of what I had seen and heard and…
Batticaloa: Despair of the displaced and disappeared and the euphoria of elections and “liberationâ€
“Return my husband you abducted before you ask for my vote” (Plea to the TMVP-UPFA, from a Batticaloa women) The government had claimed it had “liberated” the East, completed a 180 days…
Jaffna: Tears, blood and terror
Few weeks before I went to Jaffna, Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council had visited Jaffna and captured the powerful testimony of one airline passenger saying “the only thing we can…
Civilian cost of a humanitarian operation: miseries of liberated peoples of Musali and Naanatan divisions in Mannar waiting to go home
“We were not poor, we had our own house, we earned a reasonable income to feed ourselves and our children, but now, we have been forced to be poor and depend on…