Two Years On, They Are Still Asking For Answers
When new faces are seen at the Zion evangelical church in Batticaloa, it is customary for the pastor to welcome them. As a healing church, it is open to non-Christians. Two years…
Peace and Conflict
Muslims and Market Monopolies: Unpacking a Prejudice
Photo courtesy of South China Morning Post In Sri Lanka, both mainstream and social media often portray Muslims in a negative light. This portrayal draws from pre-existing prejudices towards Muslims. These prejudices…
Denying Justice While Dehumanizing a Community at Large
Photo courtesy of Shreen Saroor Thirty-one people died in the suicide attack on Zion evangelical church in Batticaloa on April 21, 2019, of which 14 were children. To date the church remains…
Romanticising Resilience: Why the Struggle to Survive Should not Become a Way of Life
Resilient is a word frequently used by human rights activists and the development sector, to describe persons affected by war and violence. In Sri Lanka, the mothers of the disappeared are…
Fear in the East: What Lies Beneath
They joke of being followed by intelligence officers and questioned on who visited them and what they spoke about but underneath lies a real fear of being intimidated, harassed and threatened when…
RISEN: A Tribute to Bishop Rayappu Joseph
Photo courtesy of Twitter “You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church” “The poor broke his heart’, ‘and the wound never closed,’ No means a temperamental revolutionary; Christ…
On the Road to a Mine Free Sri Lanka
Today is International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action A protracted war leaves behind many legacies – grieving families, shattered limbs, destroyed homes, disrupted education, lost livelihoods and psychological…
Protecting Human Rights and Ensuring Justice is the Duty of the State
Today is the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El…
Children as Propaganda: Let’s Protect Rather Than Penalise Child Soldiers
Photo courtesy of Rediff Kannan was ten when he joined the LTTE; he left when he was fourteen. His testimony on what he had experienced as a child soldier recruited against his…
Changing the Human Rights Discourse
Photo courtesy of Netral.News As the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) winds its way in Geneva, it is now almost certain that the country specific resolution on Sri…
Facing a Murderous Military, Myanmar’s Peaceful Protesters Beg for International Help
Photo courtesy of Wai Wai An online interview with Wai Wai, a young female protester in Yangon, Myanmar, on March 12. How was your day today? I started the day by calling…
UNHRC’s Ominous Warning
Photo courtesy of Kumanan Kanapathippillai At its 46th sessions, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) will be debating the resolution on Sri Lanka that has many observations and recommendations. The recommendations made…
Justice for Easter Sunday Attacks, Navaly Church Bombing and Other Crimes
Last Sunday, February 28, during the holy mass our parish priest at St. Joseph’s Church, Ratmalana announced that all Catholics in Colombo Archdiocese are requested to wear black when going to church…
The Deception Continues
Photo courtesy of the world news platform On February 24, after the Interactive Dialogue on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) when the burial issue dominated discussion of Sri…
For Families of the Disappeared, the International Community is Their Last Hope
It is a small shed with cement brick walls and an asbestos roof facing a dusty street. Car horns blare and trucks rattle past. Outside on a weedy patch of grass three…