13th Amendment: Plus? Or Minus?
Introduction Leader of National Freedom Front (NFF) and the Minister of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing & Common Amenities, Hon Wimal Weerawansa delivered a public lecture on the 7th of September 2011 on…
War Crimes
Libya, Sri Lanka and Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
Libya is the model of the new interventionism and is the latest, successful mode of application of the doctrine of R2P says Paddy Ashdown, writing in August 26, 2011). Influential individuals in…
War Crimes Investigations in Sri Lanka: An Unpopular View
“In trying to do good, we have been living beyond our moral resources and have fallen into hypocrisy and self-righteousness” — William V. Cannon, commenting on the Vietnam War, , February 6,…
Thus Spake Gothabaya
[Editors’ note: An edited version of this article appeared in the Daily Mirror today.] “The existing constitution is more than enough for us to live together. I don’t think there…
Darusman Deconstructed: Godfrey Gunatilleke’s Critique
With the solitary, honourable exception of completely missed the most important intellectual event in civil society in this post-war phase of our contemporary history. A media accustomed to lionising the less distinguished…
No One, in the US or Sri Lanka, Should Be Above the Law
Photo by Sudath Silva In a report released last month Human Rights Watch called on the US government to launch criminal investigations into allegations of detainee abuse authorized by senior Bush administration officials.…
Sri Lanka’s Tamil question: Justice, Lies and Videotape
Sri Lanka’s thirty year war is now more of words than of guns, but it is no less bitter. RNW’s team in the country met with fierce resistance from the Sri Lankan…
Heroes and Heroism: Osama Bin Laden and Prabhakaran
Photo: AP Osama Bin Laden. Dark avenging hero, Arabian knight, Arabic Lawrence of Arabia. Osama versus the USA: David versus Goliath, a hijacked airliner the stone from his slingshot. Not quite. David…
Why Government Rhetoric and Propaganda Might Divide Sri Lanka
In an interview Professor Rajiva Wijesinha gave concerning government responses to international pressure, he remarks that “people believe what they want to believe”. Wijesinha’s ironically astute observation sheds light on why government…
EXCLUSIVE: Interview with TNA MP Suresh Premachandran on the LG elections, Parliamentary Select Committee and Political Solution
caught up with TNA Member of Parliament Suresh Premachandran, who spoke to us about the nature of election violations that occurred in the Northern Province prior to the 23rd of July and…
Holes in the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts Report: Examining the Probable Alternate Events
Last week, I attended a seminar conducted by the Colombo-based Marga Institute, a think tank devoted to studying and influencing human development in Sri Lanka. Marga is in the process of putting…
The absence of Patriotism, Pluralism and Cosmopolitanism: ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ in retrospection
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS Former Sri Lankan child soldier Warnakulasuriya Anthony Sunil Rexy (right) laughs with other inmates as they play earlier this month at a government rehabilitation center in Ambepussa. Original in…
Sports and Governance: A Look at what the Doping Scandals means for International Politics in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka opening batsman Upul Tharanga, who was found guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation. Photo courtesy International Cricket Council (ICC) In the world of international governance and law, where definitions…
Resource book for historians, researchers and media: A year of tweeting from Groundviews
Visualisation of our Twitter followers. See larger version here. We used the web service Tweet Book to capture all our tweets over the past year in a single PDF. We’ve tweeted thousands of…
Photographic evidence of war crimes in Sri Lanka, or not? (Updated)
“The resulting carnage, photographed by Harun, was indescribable, but worse was to come.” The Living Scotsman’s review of by former UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss flags, inter alia, photos taken by Ret. Col.…