Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s “Blinds” – Seeing and Not Seeing
Most of us spent more time looking out of the windows of our homes this last year than in any other year. So it is perhaps no surprise that one of the…
Peace and Conflict
Vistas of Dictatorship and Discontent: How It Is All Going Horribly Wrong
Despite the extravagant promises, policies and plans contained in its campaign document Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the SLPP government have failed miserably to deliver on practically all…
A Cruel Government Supports Torture by Opposing Preventive Law
An amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure allowing the Magistrates to visit places of detention has been turned into a political issue by a section of the government and by some…
The Uncertain Fate of Rambo the Elephant
Rambo, the mature male elephant that has become an icon of the Uda Walawe National Park, was doomed to be captured from within the park and imprisoned in a so-called Elephant Holding…
Courageous Young Peace Activist Strives to Inspire Change
During her relatively short life, Britain’s Princess Diana was able to overcome many trials and tribulations and dedicate her time to helping others live better lives. Her many causes included a fight…
The ‘Punishment Bureaucracy’ and the Normalization of Torture and Impunity
Justice Kulatunga During the period March 2020 to 24 June 2021 there were reports of six cases of encounter killings, twenty-seven cases of police violence, eight deaths in police custody, four deaths…
Lack of Good Governance Will Cost Sri Lanka Dearly
The Sri Lankan government’s failure to respect human rights, democracy and accountability have caused alarm at home and abroad and may prove still more costly in various ways. After a recent decision…
Facing the Ongoing Trauma of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
Almost every conflict around the world from Bosnia to Syria, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka, involves Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). It refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion,…
Hidden and Discounted: Child Labour in Tea and Tourism
In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka is a success story when it comes to tackling child labour. The widely prevalent forms of child labour in the 1990s and before, such as…
Office on Missing Persons and the Zero Policy on Justice
One of the issues that demonstrated the approach of the Sri Lankan authorities to the problem of enforced disappearances can be discovered in a study of the narrative of the Office on…
The Prevention of Terrorism Act: Whom Does It Keep Safe?
Does the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) keep us safe? How often is it misused? Does it cause unjust suffering to people? If it does cause suffering, how much suffering are we…
Water Over the Vaduvakkal Bridge
Breakfast for three, hundred and fifty rupees. A trail of tea travelling through cups of steel, One held over another. Trees burdened by what they’ve witnessed, Hunched over. A sly wink. A…
12 Years of Seeking Hope After Three Decades of War
It must be an occasion for us as Sri Lankans to assess progress we have made in addressing root causes for the conflict through a political process and moving forward towards co-existence…
People Without Memory Can Lose Their Souls
Photo courtesy of Kumanan Kanapathippillai Over three decades of civil war has touched the lives of Sri Lankans of all ages, all races and all social classes. Fathers, sons, daughters and wives…
Mullaivayakal and the Meaning of Justice, 12 Bitter Years On
The first five months of 2009 brought immense and unprecedented pain to the people of northern Sri Lanka, and to their many Tamil relatives outside the country who looked on and received…
