HRC46: Not for Reform But for Respite
Why do Sri Lankan human rights advocates repeatedly place their trust in an imperfect and highly politicised inter-state human rights mechanism year after year? For many of us working in the domain…
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Repairing the Past Through Gendered Reparations
The transitional justice process in Sri Lanka has come to a grinding halt. Reconciliation between the majority and minority communities has never before seemed such a distant dream as the government goes…
Eradicating the Barbaric Practice of Female Genital Mutilation
In a tribal region of Afghanistan, a sad 10 year old girl, heavily made up and veiled, sits silently at her wedding ceremony to a 70 year old man. In a rural…
This Country is Mine
Image Courtesy of A poem reflecting on the meaning of independence day. This country isn’t yours to offer, Upon the conditions set by you. You can deny me the right to be…
73 Years On – The “Neocolonial” Haze
If colonization is the exercise of hegemony, administrative control and the fundamental subjugation of one group of peoples to another, then the question for post-independent Sri Lanka should be whether or not…
Loved Ones Lost: The Pain Behind Forced Cremations
Sri Lanka continues to maintain its policy of mandatory cremations for those who have died due to COVID-19, deeply distressing the Muslim community whose faith prohibits cremation. The science, the faith, the…
Sri Lanka at 73 – Reaching Out to Liechtenstein!
“I was fascinated with the theme that we must make it happen together, which was perhaps said a countless number of times during your presentation. But Sri Lanka has a problem. We are…
The Descent Into a Kafkaesque World
Sri Lanka will celebrate its 73rd independence anniversary on February 4 but for many years now, the day has become one to recount failures and the loss of achievements made during the…
The Defence Secretary and the President
Photo Courtesy of BBC News Sri Lanka is led by a man who has, by his admission, two faces. In a more democratic avatar is Gotabaya Rajapaksa the President. Here, the individual…
Human Rights Advocates Urge Strong Resolution on Sri Lanka at Human Rights Council
Photo courtesy of Global Centre for Responsibility to Protect International and local human rights advocates urged the UN Human Rights Council’s Core Group for Sri Lanka not to be fooled into presenting a…
Bringing Them Home – The Need of the Hour For Migrant Workers
From Lithuania, Italy, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other many countries the plea is the same: bring us home. From cities and villages across Sri Lanka the plea is the same: bring…
Reconciliation in Practice
Our country is ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse and our survival depends on equal treatment. Discrimination and violence against Tamils led to civil war and displacement. After the 2019 terrorist attacks, the…
Living in Hell: The Plight of Prisoners Held Under the PTA
The findings of the National Study of Prisons undertaken by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka have been discussed in numerous articles since its publication in December 2020. The study was…
A Tribute to Malathi de Alwis and Her Work
Malathi de Alwis, friend, mentor, teacher, feminist, anthropologist, birder, foodie and the most amazing cook, passed away on January 21. As we mourn this utterly devastating, untimely loss of one of the…
Calls to Hold Sri Lankan State to Account at UN Human Rights Council
The Sri Lankan government is likely to face an uncomfortable time at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in February-March 2021. Strong criticism can be expected, in the light of…
