The Anti-Terrorism Law: A Draconian Legacy
The Minister of Justice recently presented to parliament the Anti-Terrorism Bill, and its first reading took place on January 10, 2024. While this Bill is fraught with problems, two main issues with…
Search Results for: torture
Further Rights Violations Draw International Scrutiny
People suspected of using illegal drugs are among the latest Sri Lankans to find their rights under attack from the regime. So are those sharing news and views online that might suddenly…
TRC – A Sophisticated Get Out of Jail Free Card?
Sri Lanka has published a bill to establish a Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation. Although the bill superficially appears to tick several boxes for the international community, a close examination reveals…
2023: A Year of Struggle for Survival
In 2023 Sri Lanka was struggling to come out of the economic meltdown with aid from the IMF, which required many austerity measures that impacted severely much of the population. People had…
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…
Why Deshabandu Tennakoon Must Not Continue as Acting Police Chief
On December 14, 2023, the Supreme Court delivered a historic judgement, holding Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon personally responsible for torture. Before this judgement, there have been reports of…
A Politics of Conscience
On August 14, 2006 the Sri Lankan air force bombed an orphanage in Vallipunam killing 61 schoolgirls. The Rajapaksa administration insisted that the location was a LTTE training camp and the victims…
75 Years On, UDHR’s Relevance in Sri Lanka and Beyond
On December 10, 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Drawing on grim experience of how misuse of power caused massive destruction and suffering and reflecting…
Shadows on Justice: Unraveling the Crisis of Custodial Deaths
The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) took a decisive step towards justice by submitting a special petition to the UN, European Union and the Swiss Embassy in Sri Lanka….
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…
Challenges in Addressing Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists in Sri Lanka
In a report on Sri Lanka presented to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2023, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had stated, “lack of accountability at all levels remains…
Refugees in Their Own Land: The Shared Plight of Sri Lankan Tamils and Muslims
I was 10 years old when Muslims were forced to move out of their homes in the North in October 1990. I never again saw or heard about the two Muslim students…
The Cauldrons We Make
Jewish Currents is a US-based leftwing Jewish magazine. Soon after October 7 Hamas attack, its editor, Arielle Angel, a vocal proponent of Palestinian liberation, penned a letter to the readers. “I watched…
Sanitizing Israeli Horror and Demonizing Palestinian Resistance
Hamas’ coordinated rocket attack on Israel, which killed hundreds of Israeli citizens and brought a new Palestine-Israel War, is another chapter in the history and expansion of the Zionist settler state. To…
Sandya Ekneligoda: 5,000 Days of Struggle for Truth and Justice
On October 4 it is 5,000 days since disappearance of cartoonist, journalist and human rights defender Prageeth Ekneligoda. It is also nearly 5,000 days since I first met his wife Sandya Ekneligoda…