Whose democracy is it anyway?
While domestic and international observers have been praising the peaceful transfer of power in early January, Sri Lanka’s civil conflict continues and Tamil rights remain in question. TSA has obtained a series…
Author: The Social Architects
Bringing the Debate Back Home
Image via Maithripala.com We extend our sincere congratulations to President Maithripala Sirisena. After a decade of the Rajapaksas, Sri Lankans have decided to make a change. And we’re happy that, in spite…
A Call for Accountability: Death of a Young Woman in Kilinochchi
On November 28, 2013 a pregnant mother from Malaiyalapuram North[1] (Malaiyalapuram) in Kilinochchi District died at Jaffna Teaching Hospital. She was 17 and 2/7 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.…
Above the Law: Violations of Women’s Reproductive Rights in Northern Sri Lanka
Image courtesy The Social Architects This report, TSA’s fourth, outlines the findings of the organization’s September 2013 field mission on coercive contraception clinics in Kilinochchi District. In early September of this year,…
Coercive Population Control in Kilinochchi
Photo courtesy The Social Architects [Editors note: Please read by The Social Architects, which expands on this initial report and address the points made in the comments as well as in other…
Spot Fixing Sri Lanka Style: Revisiting the Enumeration of Vital Events
Image courtesy Thuppahi blog In November 2011, Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, said that discovering how many civilians “died or went missing during the last few months of the conflict” would…
The Numbers Never Lie: A Comprehensive Assessment of Sri Lanka’s LLRC Progress
Download the report in full here, or view in inline here. ### Introduction Nearly four years since the end of the country’s civil war, Sri Lanka remains a divided, post-war society, as…
The Numbers Never Lie: A Quick Look at Sri Lanka’s LLRC Progress
The administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa won the ethnic war, but Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict is more alive than ever. There is a lot of talk about how the situation in the…
Giving reconciliation in Sri Lanka a better chance: A Shadow Action Plan for the LLRC
Image courtesy Centre for Human Rights The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Final Report contains many positive recommendations which merit immediate attention. Unfortunately, the present administration has given virtually no indication…
Troubled Waters: Corruption and Human Trafficking in Post-war Sri Lanka
Photo courtesy Herald Sun Australia has recently been dealing with an upsurge of asylum seekers who have traveled by boat from elsewhere in Asia. The notes that, “While most boats originate in…
Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity: Part Two
[Editors note: Read Part 1 of this series here] 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…
Post-war Sri Lanka’s Thought Police: The Rehabilitation of Ex-Combatants and the Denigration of Tamil Identity
Image courtesy [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…