Widespread Arrests Used to Intimidate the Population
From all parts of the country, there are reports of arrests of people who participated in the protests that erupted against the hardships caused by the economic meltdown. For months people made…
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Government Harassment of Protesters and Journalists Intensifies
Despite widespread condemnation of the arrests, intimidation and harassment of peaceful protesters by the state, activists and journalists continued to be targeted for reprisals for their part in the aragalaya. The repressive…
July 1983 Pogrom: the Black Week that Impacted Sri Lanka Forever
The political leadership of Sri Lanka has yet again demonstrated that even in the midst of the worst socio economic and political crisis the country has faced since independence, they do not…
Golden or Black July? – the Month of Destiny
Brief It is in this month that Sri Lanka chose its people’s revolution, on July 9. The people’s revolution in its spirit carried by hope (and anger) was quickly followed by disillusionment;…
Out of the Shadows: Violence Against Women who Love Women
Human Rights Watch Earlier this month, a news report revealed that a 22 year old woman had filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission against the Welisara-Mahabage police. She alleged that…
Parliamentary Democracy: Re-living a Myth
Parliamentary democracy is a system of governance through which people share resources, provide for their own needs, enhance their own interests and deal with unexpected contingencies, as far as possible on their…
Comrade Q – An Incomplete Sketch
The caption was pure Qadri: piece of June 2020 might have been the first time it strayed into his public writing. But then, as he points out, appointing a taskforce to create…
PTA Amendment Bill: A Facade for Backdoor Human Right Violations?
Counterterrorism and protecting human rights has been a long standing dichotomy on a global scale. The same fate was experienced in the Sri Lankan context with the civil war and internal insurrections….
A Schizoid Political Culture
Attackers roaring obscenities, screams of victims, the thunk of metal poles on defenceless humans and the crack of smashed protester shelters all combined to almost drown out the Bhikkus’ serene chanting of…
Is the Aragalaya Checkmated?
Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his first interview as the new prime minister, said he would protect the GotaGoGama site while Army Commander Shavendra Silva said that if the protesters were not violent they…
Challenging Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists
The Permanent People’s Tribunal in The Hague (Netherlands) has commenced hearings into murder of journalist and editor Lasantha Wickrematunge based on an indictment presented by a coalition of international press freedom organizations….
People’s Tribunal Hears Evidence Against My Father’s Killers
Today the People’s Tribunal on the Murder of Journalists in the Hague will commence hearing evidence in the assassination of my father Lasantha Wickrematunge. The indictment alleges the Sri Lankan government’s complicity…
Calling for a System Change from Polarisation to Pluralism
Way ahead of the presidential election of 2019 Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had given enough indication that he was incapacitated, incompetent and illegitimate to establish a democratic government that would safeguard the interests of…
21st Amendment: A Way Out of Sri Lanka’s Multiple Crises?
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has attracted global attention and national fury. The irresponsible decisions of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa – cutting taxes, banning fertiliser and continuing with non-essential infrastructure projects financed by debt…
Life After Death of the Rajapaksa Conglomerate
No, they have not been eradicated as yet. But they will; if not this month or even this year then, sadly, in time. The end Mahinda will stop his pathetic posturing and…
