In 2018 the former President of Sri Lanka, influenced by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ policy, attempted to resume executions for people convicted of drug trafficking. The President’s move reignited…
I thought I would talk about Sunila’s involvement in the seminal moments of the international violence against women movement. Given the violence that has engulfed the world today, this may be a…
On August 30, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a State of Emergency across the island, on the basis that he was “Of the opinion that it is considered expedient to do so in…
August 30 is marked across much of the world as the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. For the families and the friends of the disappeared and human rights groups…
Today of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances “Sri Lanka has the world’s second-highest number of cases registered with the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.…
At two meetings held on March 8 and April 29 the Cabinet approved reforms to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). The reforms will make 18 years the minimum age for…
August 22 is the International Day Commemorating Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief established by the United Nations. In Sri Lanka, there is continuous persecution of religious minorities.…
Sunday Times In October 1990, The LTTE ordered some 75,000 Muslims in the Jaffna peninsula to leave their homes within 48 hours; they were allowed to take Rs. 300 and some clothes.…
On August 20, 2006, Father Jim Brown, a Catholic Priest, and Wenceslaus Vimalathas, his associate, disappeared. They were last seen at a Navy check point in Allaipiddy in the Jaffna district while…
In October 2020, Bimshani Jasin Arachchi was appointed as Sri Lanka’s first female Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). Six months later, she was removed from her duties by a three-bench panel…
Their playground is a graveyard; their toys are sticks and stones. They run in the sand and dirt, flying kites and joking, fighting and laughing. They are Tamil children living on the…
This article is a summary of my report Broken System: Drug Control, Detention and Treatment of People who Use Drugs in Sri Lanka published by Harm Reduction International, which discusses both the…
Sri Lankan student activists have been arrested for protesting against militarisation and privatisation in higher education. This is yet another example of misuse of laws supposedly aimed at stopping the spread of…
A few months ago, the author had the misfortune of being introduced to a video of a YouTuber and apparently a “psychiatrist” by the name of Ama Dissanayake. Having never heard of…
In one of the most heinous crimes committed against humanitarian personnel, 17 Sri Lankan workers of Action contre la Faim (ACF), a French aid organisation, were murdered in their office in Muttur…
