Confronting the State on Disappearances
August 30 is marked across much of the world as the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. For the families and the friends of the disappeared and human rights groups…
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From Fantasy to Nightmare: The Myth of Absolute Power
After many years of being a politician in various capacities, J.R. Jayewardene had come to the conclusion that if he could rule all by himself without any restraints, he could do a…
Lockdown at Last: Too Little, Too Late?
“The most sacred laws of justice are the laws which guard the life and person of our neighbor.” Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments After nearly ten months of refusing a lockdown,…
A Country To Die In
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressed the nation on the day Sri Lanka became South Asia’s first in average Covid-19 deaths. One hundred and ninety five people died on that day, according to official…
People’s Resilience and Judicial Independence
The people of Sri Lanka, like those in several other countries, are learning that their past could cost them their lives and the lives of their loved ones and those of many…
A Cabinet Reshuffle for a Much Needed Course Correction
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, approximately a third of the way into his term of office, carried out the most significant mid term cabinet reshuffle in recent Sri Lankan political history. The closest in…
COVID-19 Resurgence: Let’s Not Lose Hope but Let’s Not Tolerate Inadequate Solutions
Sri Lanka is facing a resurgence of COVID-19 due to the Delta variant that mirrors the devastating surge in India in April. In the last 24 hours government sources have reported 3,435…
Fighting the War on Drugs the Wrong Way
This article is a summary of my report Broken System: Drug Control, Detention and Treatment of People who Use Drugs in Sri Lanka published by Harm Reduction International, which discusses both the…
Misusing the Pandemic to Silence Sri Lankans
Sri Lankan student activists have been arrested for protesting against militarisation and privatisation in higher education. This is yet another example of misuse of laws supposedly aimed at stopping the spread of…
SLPP: One Year of Non Governance
As the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) is reaching its first year of governance, which some may call non governance, the question that may be in the minds of many is where…
Fifteen Years On No Justice for Massacre of Muttur Aid Workers
In one of the most heinous crimes committed against humanitarian personnel, 17 Sri Lankan workers of Action contre la Faim (ACF), a French aid organisation, were murdered in their office in Muttur…
The Toxic Shipwreck: A Silent Killer Murdering Ocean Life
The X-Press Pearl ship catastrophe is the most significant ship accident that has happened in the Indian ocean and is the worst maritime disaster in the history of Sri Lanka. This is…
COVID-19 Public Health Measures Are Essential Even with Vaccinations
On July 19, 2021, at a World Health Organization (WHO) press conference, COVID-19 Technical Lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove’s son asked a question that has been on all our minds “when will…
With Militarization and Marketization KNDU Bill Sounds Death Knell for Higher Education
“The character of an educational system depends upon the character of the society for which it is designed. In a totalitarian system the education system is designed to establish among all sections…
Child Trafficking: Responding to a Complex Phenomenon
The recent incidents of sexual and economic exploitation of children have sparked many protests and a public outcry targeting the failure of the State to ensure justice to children and their families….
