Go Not Meekly Into the Rajapaksa Night
The 93 year old woman had died of Covid-19. Her body was brought to the Mathugama cemetery in a hospital ambulance, placed inside the crematorium, then hastily removed and returned to the…
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Systemic Torture – The Dark Stain on Sri Lanka
When Sri Lanka was ruled by kings and queens, they used 32 types of torture to keep their subjects in line. These included being trampled by an elephant and being impaled on…
The ‘Punishment Bureaucracy’ and the Normalization of Torture and Impunity
Justice Kulatunga During the period March 2020 to 24 June 2021 there were reports of six cases of encounter killings, twenty-seven cases of police violence, eight deaths in police custody, four deaths…
Institutional Discrimination Puts Plantation Community at Risk
Over the last two decades the plantation sector has undergone huge changes in Sri Lanka including a sharp reduction in the labour force, poor social welfare provision, lower productivity and a rapid…
COVID-19 is an Opportunity to Break Rigid Schooling Systems
Although they overlap, there are some crucial differences between rigid schooling systems and education. Rigid schooling prepares children for exams and qualifies them for employment. Education equips children with values and prepares…
Lack of Good Governance Will Cost Sri Lanka Dearly
The Sri Lankan government’s failure to respect human rights, democracy and accountability have caused alarm at home and abroad and may prove still more costly in various ways. After a recent decision…
Sri Lanka is Alarmingly Overdue for a Long Term Strategy for COVID-19
At the beginning of the pandemic, given the unexpected nature of the outbreak and lack of scientific understanding, many countries including Sri Lanka opted for temporary, ad-hoc public measures that included temporary…
Refugees in Sri Lanka: Old and New Challenges
Mirror People all over the world get displaced from their houses, villagers, countries due to natural disasters, development projects, war, violence, discrimination and other forms of persecution. Globally, the numbers of displaced…
Facing the Ongoing Trauma of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
Almost every conflict around the world from Bosnia to Syria, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka, involves Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV). It refers to rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion,…
Towards a Debate on Post-war State Formation of Sri Lanka
Both Sinhala nationalists and followers of liberal peace base their analysis of post-war Sri Lanka as a country that has ended a violent phase of its history, and now it is time…
Climate Conscious Development Planning Vital for Sustainable Development
The beginning of the southwest monsoon season has triggered heavy rains causing flash floods and mud slides across several districts across the country. The risk of increased extreme weather events – heavy…
Kandaketiya Judgement and Continuing Deaths in State Custody
On the May 7, 2014 Sandun Malinga, a 17 year old boy and four others with him were beaten by police officers, arrested and detained at the Kandaketiya police in the Badulla…
Avoiding Necrocapitalism in Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zones
Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zone (FTZ) workers are employed in global factories deeply embedded in global supply chains. Historically, they contribute significantly to Sri Lanka’s export income and economic development goals. Women,…
Hidden and Discounted: Child Labour in Tea and Tourism
In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka is a success story when it comes to tackling child labour. The widely prevalent forms of child labour in the 1990s and before, such as…
X-Press Pearl Disaster: An Oceanographic Perspective
The container ship, X-Press Pearl, was registered in Singapore and operated by one of the largest feeder ship operators in the world, X-Press Feeders. X-Press Feeders operates a route that includes Port…
