Searching for Answers: The Road to the OMP
Featured image courtesy VikalpaSL August 30 is the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. This year has seen the passage of legislation to enable the set-up of an Office of…
Transitional Justice
SUBMISSION ON LGBTIQ PERSONS AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE MECHANISMS
Photo courtesy TO THE ZONAL TASK FORCE AND THE CONSULTATION TASK FORCE FOR RECONCILIATION MECHANISMS Introduction We present this submission as individuals self-identifying as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Queer (LGBTIQ),…
Submission by Hashtag Generation to the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms
Photo courtesy Consultation Task Force Thank you very for hosting us this evening at this consultation on reconciliation mechanisms. Meaningfully consulting young people is imperative to ensure the legitimacy of any transitional…
A Year of Political Rights and Economic Wrongs
Photo courtesy International Business Times One year after winning the parliamentary election of August 2015, the government is on track politically. One year after winning the parliamentary election of August 2015, the…
The Office on Missing Persons: A New Chapter or Another Empty Promise?
Image courtesy Amnesty International 11 August 2016 was an important day for the victims of past abuses in Sri Lanka. This was when Sri Lanka’s Parliament enacted legislation to establish the first…
OMP – When labels take precedence over content
Featured image courtesy IRIN News On Thursday 11 August, 2016, Parliament pushed through one of the most sensitive and important pieces of legislation, the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) Act amidst the…
Bury them right now
The modern political discourse on conflict resolution becomes a banality when it invariably tends to get stuck with a buzz word or phrase. Then, the intellectual circus begins. The experts coin them…
Difficult Issues, Strategic Choices: Crafting a Coherent Sri Lankan Transitional Justice Process
It is one of the greatest honors of my professional life to be asked to deliver this lecture in honor of Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam. Neelan embodied all of the virtues of what…
Black July, Government promises and our future
I’m thankful to British Tamils Forum (BTF) for inviting me to share some reflections and thoughts on this occasion. Many of you gathered for this commemoration might be Tamils. Some may be…
National Reconciliation – A Pipe Dream unless Inclusivity Achieved
Featured image courtesy Rotary Peace Centre “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” -Benjamin Franklin It is…
Flip-flopping on accountability: A timeline
Featured image courtesy The Wire/Ishara K The topic of international involvement in Sri Lanka’s accountability process, specifically the participation of foreign judges, is controversial and hotly contested. The UNHRC resolution, co-sponsored by…
Post-War Reconciliation in Sri Lanka – A Reality Check
Photo courtesy James Morgan I share the basic premise on which the theme of this seminar seems to have been constructed, that is, “peace and reconciliation are a prerequisite for nation-building in…
Geneva and coming colours: A lesson for Colombo
The recent activity in Geneva around High Commissioner Zeid’s oral update on Sri Lanka illuminated an interesting dynamic with respect to accountability in Sri Lanka. The noticeable pull back from the terms…
(Re)conceptualising Reconciliation: Transitional Justice in Sri Lanka
Transitional justice is a popular term in present day Sri Lanka. It is the means by which the various parties to the conflict have decided to bring about justice and reconciliation. The…
Continuing abuse under PTA: Abductions, Arbitrary Arrests, Unlawful Detentions and Torture
By Marisa de Silva, Swasthika Arulingam and Ruki Fernando for WATCHDOG On 30th March, 2016, a suicide jacket, explosives and other ammunition was found in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna. Since then, as at 28th…
