On February 26, the Sri Lankan government withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1, which Sri Lanka endorsed in 2015. The resolution commits Sri Lanka to ensuring truth, justice and reconciliation…
The Mahara prison violence has shocked the nation and stirred feelings of disbelief and indignation. A wide cross section of people and groups – class, ethnic and political – want to know…
Eleven prisoners were killed and more than 100 injured in unrest at the Mahara prison that started on November 29. The Minister of Justice appointed a committee to inquire into incident. The…
COVID-19 has been dominant factor in our lives this year. Restrictions on travel and gatherings have made it more challenging for solidarity and mobilizing by survivors, victim families and activists. COVID-19 was…
This year’s Human Rights Day theme is “Recover Better – Stand up for Human Rights”. The theme directly addresses the COVID-19 pandemic and tries to recover better from the global crisis with…
The tragic final months of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009 have received renewed attention lately, with a mention in ex-US president Barack Obama’s new book and a panel discussion on lessons…
Human rights is a much misunderstood and maligned concept in Sri Lanka. It is sometimes seen as a Western notion and not in keeping with the culture of the country. However, people…
A brilliant friend of mine at university was upset one day because someone had vandalized her final exam results on the printout the University had pinned up on the board. She had…
Inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education, or otherwise known as period poverty, is not a phenomenon that only affects the developing world but is an issue that women and girls…
While Sri Lankans are famous for defending their property rights when it comes to land ownership and title deeds, intellectual property is not exactly sacrosanct. From Aishwarya Rai “endorsing” beauty parlours to…
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka conducted the first national study on the treatment and conditions of prisoners from February 2018 to January 2020. The findings of the report are very…
“Where is my son, where is my brother?” was the constant refrain of about 50 people gathered outside the Mahara prison on December 5, six days after the prison massacre that left…
To mark International Day for Persons with Disabilities, Groundviews interviewed Dharini de Mel, a friend and philanthropist for persons with disabilities. Dharini’s introduction to supporting the disabled came quite by chance. Although…
This proposal for a new Chapter on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in a future constitution was prepared in response to the public invitation to submit proposals to the Ministry of Justice Experts…
When Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first discovered in the early 1980s, it was considered a lethal disease, easily transmitted and a death sentence to all who had it. People with AIDS…
