Emigration or Death: US-Israeli Offer to Gazans
“ Chaim Weizman After 75 years of the founding of Israel, Weizman’s camel is well and truly inside the tent and in the process of chasing out its original occupants. US Republican…
War Crimes
Murder for Money: The Case of the Forcibly Disappeared Navy 11
Brief Successive government have promised that none of Sri Lanka’s “war heroes” would be tried for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa went as far as pardoning…
Justice Undone in the Mirusuvil Massacre Case
It was one of the rare cases of justice being served – Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake was tried and convicted for the murder of eight civilians in Mirusuvil in Jaffna in 2000. Witnesses…
Mourning Children, Tyrant
Nobody will mourn you, tyrant, when you’re gone, when the coffin lowers into the grave. Nobody will visit the memorial and there will need to be guards placed on each…
Children are the First Victims of Every Conflict
Children have always been the most vulnerable and innocent casualties of any conflict. Past conflicts have had a devastating impact on children’s lives and ongoing conflicts continue to perpetuate their suffering. The…
Three Poems for Palestine
APOCALYPSE The thunder of horses’ hooves No longer evokes terror This comes from the skies Life limps amidst the craters, The suffocating smoke, Brimstone would be a welcome manna from heaven…
German Artist Otto Dix Depicts the Horrors and Futility of War
Artists and writers throughout the ages have depicted the horrors of war in graphic detail in their work. From Wilfred Owen’s poems about World War I to Picasso’s painting Guernica on the…
Indefinite Security Responsibility or Infinite Control Over Gaza?
“Those who want to thwart the possibility of a Palestine State should support the strengthening of Hamas and the transfer of money to Hamas. This is part of our strategy” (Benjamin Netanyahu…
Palestine and Israel, International Law and Sri Lanka’s Grim Experience
Recent events in the Middle East have left people throughout the world horrified, especially since so many of the injured and killed have been children. Those with widely varying backgrounds and beliefs…
If Only the Trees Could Speak Justice Could be Served
Sachithanandam Padmaranjani has been waiting for 14 years to hear news about her husband whom she handed over to the army in May 2009. Padmaranjani, who fled into the army controlled area…
We Want Nothing But Justice Say Families of the Forcibly Disappeared
On September 5, excavations will begin on a mass grave found in the Kokkuthoduvai area of Mullaituvu in accordance with a court order. The new mass grave is one of around 32…
July 83: A Mission of Revenge Takes Life of Activist
I was in Jaffna in July 1983, staying with a few friends of mine at the boy’s hostel of the University of Jaffna. The hostel was situated right by the Kokkuvil train…
A Story of Healing, Resilience and Reconciliation
When the Easter Sunday bomb attacks brought tears to the world I, too, cried in Toronto for myself saying, “I am not safe here”. The images of Easter bombings brought memories of…
Unearthing the Truth about Sri Lanka’s Mass Graves
Sri Lanka’s bloody and brutal 26 year war, which ended 14 years ago, has left many questions unanswered; one of the most important is where are the many thousands of the missing?…
The Case of VM and Meeting Sri Lanka’s International Obligations
Star As Sri Lanka marks the end of a long and bloody civil war 14 years on, the legacy of the brutal past remains unaddressed and continues to haunt the country. The…