Voiceless: Stories of the Displaced
On Friday, posted a map to the displaced and marginalised, marking the International for the Right to Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, which falls on…
Human Rights
The Right To Truth: Mapping The Displaced
The right to truth is often linked to healing in the wake of trauma. The International Centre for Transitional Justice says “truth can assist in the healing process after traumatic events; restore…
Responding to criticism on human rights: A case of ante-natal stress disorder?
My critique of the Ministry of Human Right’s report on its preparations on a future National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) has drawn the kind of contumacious response from one ‘Trigger Happy’…
The farcical ‘National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights’ in Sri Lanka
Exactly a year ago today, a week before the Royal-Thomian, the journalist J.S. Tissainayagam went into the TID to enquire after his friends who had been taken in for questioning the previous…
A military pathway to nation building
The leaders of the Tamil community and the left movement, who had joined the governments of UNP and SLFP since independence had helped the leaders of these two parties to bring this…
Going for the Kill in More Ways than One
What does the failed abduction attempt against Namal Perera of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI), which turned into a brutal assault on him and his friend Mahinda Ratnaweera , Political Officer…
Terror is spreading in the South
Abductions continue Abductions continue unabated and last week five persons all of Tamil identity were abducted from the Kotahena area. Meanwhile threats to abduct and kill intellectuals seem to have started as…
Hawks and hypocrisy in the Rajapaksa administration
When President Mahinda Rajapaksa met with some editors and senior journalists recently, he was asked about the attack on the Associate Editor of the Nation. His reply was,” You know me, I…
A malicious “patriotism” and its impact on media and journalists
Journalists in Sri Lanka are trying to recollect whether they had a worse time under the regime of President Ranasinghe Premadasa when during the height of a crackdown on a JVP insurrection…
EU withdrawal of GSP+ to enforce Human Rights
Economic sanctions have been used for foreign policy objectives since the time of Ancient Greece. The idea that economic sanctions might be an alternative to the use of force received attention after…
Speech by Justice P N Bhagwati at the IIGEP’s final press conference
Short speech by Justice P N Bhagwati at the IIGEP’s final press conference, held this morning in Colombo. Headphones recommended as the audio is weak.