Checkmate, Rajapakse! The UN Report, Militarism and Public Religion in Sri Lanka
The author of this article, in January 2012, wanted us to take it down. Although published under a pseudonym on , the real name of the author and the full content of…
UN Panel Report
UN Panel Report on Accountability in Sri Lanka
When allegations become evidence
Media and advocacy groups make mistakes. It’s true. The reason for the errors can vary from simple human error, time constraints resulting in insufficient research to subtle manipulation of facts and wording…
Giving the middle finger: Sri Lanka’s conflicting responses to war crimes allegations
Mr. A Nawan, Deputy Solicitor General of Sri Lanka This symbolic screen grab is from a short video on Channel 4’s website, on the occasion of screening in Geneva a one-hour documentary…
Is the war crimes video confirmed by UN as authentic “unrepresentative and irrelevant”?
The Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, presented at the 17th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva today found, after…
The Indo- Sri Lanka Joint Communique: Delineating the Parametres of Action in Response to the Panel Report
[Editors’ note: An edited version of this article appeared in the on the 26th of May 2011.] The above two extracts from the Joint Communique issued by the External Affairs Ministers of…
A robust debate on No Fire Zones (NFZs) and International Humanitarian Law: Artful dodging of war crimes in Sri Lanka?
Original image courtesy PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images A central challenge of curating content on , the explosive new book on the end of war by former UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss. What follows are…
A review of ‘The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lankan & The Last Days of the Tamil Tigers’
I was elated to take delivery of my copy of with articles perceived to be against the incumbent government, that this tome will be freely sold in bookstores. The publication and release…
Buddhism and its impact on governance
Image from Travel Blog Today, Wesak is the most revered day in the Buddhist calendar. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, the celebration is led by a small group of apparently sanctimonious humbugs followed…
Opposition to the UN Panel report: Any method to this madness?
There is obviously much confusion in official circles on what to do with the report of the panel appointed by the UN Secretary General to look into issues of accountability in Sri…
Anti-UN sentiment in Jaffna: Fact or fiction?
The reveals that bereft of any public support, the minister and his goons are now ostensibly forcing people to sign their names, and this too in the regions most affected by war.…
On Sinhalese Nationalists, Tamil Diaspora and the War Crimes Saga
Photo from The Australian A couple of days ago I was watching a political talk show in the Derana TV Channel attended by prominent nationalists including Professor Nalin de Silva of the…
Sinhala and Tamil translations of UN Panel’s report on accountability
Original image from TNL The official version of the report published by the panel constituted by the UN Secretary General to look into issues of accountability in Sri Lanka was released on…
Notes on Possibilities after the UN Report: Including Nationalism and ‘The Geopolitics of Emotion’
Photo courtesy Deborah Philip It was my sense after May 18, 2009 when the LTTE was defeated that Sri Lanka was missing an opportunity to redefine itself as part of a kinder,…
Violence and accountability
Cartoon by Albert Ashok As conflict raged, the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights had stern words for those on both sides. “All violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law…
War Crimes Accountability In Sri Lanka: Is There A Liberal Democratic Alternative To International Action?
Sri Lanka’s President pictured here with the Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal (L) and his brother Basil Rajapaksa, the Economic Development Minister (R) has repeatedly called the war a…
