A cascade of reports from human rights organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have drawn attention to rise of authoritarian and nationalistic regimes around the world that is having an…
The Anti-Terrorism Bill gazetted by the government in March highlights a critical issue: the interconnectedness of oppressive laws. As the Anti-Terrorism Bill refers to rehabilitation is the Bill in any way connected…
On March 17, the government published its proposed 97 page Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The ATA is the latest attempt by governments to respond to domestic and international criticism over the last 40…
In Sri Lanka, for decades, the state has been abusing power and violating the rights of its citizens with impunity, often in the guise of protecting the country and citizens from terrorism….
One morning in April 2008, Rameshkumar picked up a hire in his tuk tuk in Digana and was driving to the destination when he was suddenly accosted by a group in a…
As Sri Lankans continue to protest against postponement of local elections, harsh austerity measures and other injustices, the regime faces added pressure as UN bodies gather in Geneva. The situation in Sri…
Ahnaf Jazeem is a 27 year old Muslim poet from the remote village of Chilawathurai in the Mannar District. Ahnaf was arrested on May 16, 2020 by the Counter Terrorism Investigation Division…
The media have been replete with the pronouncements that the president of Sri Lanka was going to resolve the ethnic issue by taking some rapid action measures. However, scepticism was inevitable when…
Sri Lanka’s national anthem presents a vision of the country as a motherland to many, life giving and filled with nature’s abundance and beauty, a place of truth seeking and wisdom. It…
A Supreme Court judgement, a new US law, Canadian sanctions and United Nations evidence gathering are making it increasingly hard for Sri Lanka’s past and present rulers to avoid accountability for large…
The past few weeks have seen a rapid escalation of justice and accountability mechanisms on the national and international landscape for Sri Lanka’s gross human rights violators; the nooses are tightening around…
January is usually a grim indication of the perilous state of human rights in Sri Lanka. It is reminder of the many cases that have gone unpunished with perpetrators still at large….
The process of ethnic assimilation, common in the pre-British era, largely ceased under colonial rule when communal identities were fostered and emphasized. It can arguably be said modern Sinhala nationalism emerged in…
Before Gotabaya Rajapaksa, there was S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. Before organic only, there was Sinhala only. And the related transformation of Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara from monastic colleges to secular universities. Like Sinhala only, this…
As Sri Lankans continue to suffer the effects of the economic crisis and varied human rights abuses, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has made clear his willingness to use force against people who protest…
