EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Read the full report as a PDF:Sri Lanka Briefing Note No 14 Feb. 2019 In the last two months of 2018, Sri Lanka witnessed a political coup led by its President. The coup was short lived. The attempt to overthrow the democratically elected Government and bring back the authoritarian ruler, who was rejected […]
Features
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Regaining Paradise with Gotabaya Rajapaksa -Tisaranee Gunasekara
“If they harm me, it is the country they harm.” Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (Hard Talk – Daily Mirror – October 2011)[i] The beautification of Gotabaya Rajapaksa is on full throttle. The names of his front organisations are indicative of the guise he intends to adopt as a presidential contender: The Light (Eliya) and The Intellectual Path (Viyath […]
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There is at present, no constitutionally established Court of Appeal – J.C. Weliamuna
Sri Lanka today faces another constitutional crisis. At the centre of the crisis is the dynamic between the Constitutional Council, a creation of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, and the executive presidency, itself a creation of the 1978 Constitution. Both the executive powers of the President and the powers of the Constitutional Council are […]
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When the president unjustly and unsupportably lambasts
It is no matter for jest when the President of a country publicly singles out national oversight institutions for ferocious censure. And without a doubt, it is even worse when that institution happens to be a national human rights institution. By the very nature of the work that it does and the statutory mandate on […]
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Peace keeping soldiers death is due to a terrorist attack, not because of any delay by the commission, HRCSL, tells Sirisena
Image: Remains of two UN peacekeepers killed in Mali arrive in Sri Lanka. His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Presidential Residence Paget Road Colombo 07 Your Excellency, Re: His Excellency the President’s Statement in the Parliament about the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. We have been made aware of […]
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The Crisis in Sri Lanka – Kanishka Goonewardena
Mahinda Rajapaksa speaks to the media on November 11, 2018 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Paula Bronstein / Getty. “In the name of God, go!” Rarely have these words of Oliver Cromwell been recycled with such farce and frequency as during Sri Lanka’s recent political crisis, not least by parliamentarians addressing rivals. As far as crises […]
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‘I hear the cries of Northern Tamils in their own language’ – Suren Ragavan
BY MANJULA FERNANDO. In an interview with the Sunday Observer Dr.Suren Raghawan, the first ever Northern Province Tamil Governor, spells out his aims and objectives to serve the people in the region and build bridges not only to send the farming produce from the North over to the South, but bring together the youth of […]
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Sri Lanka journalists orgs want UN to persist in pressuring the government to take accountability forward.
In a letter to Ms. Hanaa Singer, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations, Sri Lanka, media organistations says that ” We do not want the assurances of the United Nations. We want it to take and compel action. The undersigned believe it is essential for the UN to persist in pressuring the Sri Lankan government to take accountability […]
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Prageeth: “A politically motivated crime” – Dharisha Bastians & Aanya Vipulasena
From Colombo to Giritale to Akkaraipattu, CID sleuths have pieced together the abduction of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda on January 24, 2010 and linked it to a shadowy military intelligence unit operating out of the Giritale Army camp. But four years after the investigation began, the case has hit a wall, with the military refusing to […]
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On (badly behaving) politicians and the media – Kishali Pinto Jayawaradene
Cartoon by Avantha Artigala. White vans and ‘black media’ aside (which I will return to later), Sri Lanka has seen politicians insulting judges in Parliament under cover of parliamentary privilege in the past. Staggering and scurrilous abuse Each time, these attacks have been discomfiting, indicating the extent to which the ancient law of privilege can […]
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Politicians who rule the roost and destroy education of nation’s children – Ranga Jayasuriya
Sri Lanka is not the only country that has seen a gradual decline in the quality of education over time; but this is one of the few such places which pride that deterioration as ‘progress’. Half-baked and insular scholarship that was produced over the decades actually tend to believe in this fallacy. The political class, […]
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Preferred future vs Possible futures: How 2019 would shape Sri Lanka’s destiny – Ranga Jayasuriya
Any day is important, and some days are extra- special. However, the events that unfold on that special day would be fermented for over the years. Some years are extra-special too. The year 2019 is one such year. As the presidency enters into its fifth year, this would be the election year. This is also […]
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Sri Lanka heads for an uncertain future – Ranga Jayasuriya.
Image: Left groups wants Sirisena to be prosecuted for political coup he staged. (c)S.Deshapriya.. As a year of political upheaval and economic stagnation is winding down, Sri Lanka is entering into an uncertain 2019. Politics is as toxic as it has ever been in recent times. The illwill between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister […]
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Skeletons of 21 children found in mass grave in Sri Lanka with ‘signs of torture’
Image: Staff dig up skeletons at a site of a former war zone in Mannar, Sri Lanka ( REUTERS ) Excavators in Sri Lanka have found the skeletal remains of 21 children as well as signs of possible torture of the dead in the biggest mass grave in the country’s former civil war zone, Mannar, putting a spotlight on the […]
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Restoration of political sanity in Sri Lanka – Jayadeva Uyangoda
Image: 24 day peaceful protest against Sirisena’s constitutional coup came to an end with the news of Rajapaksa’s resignation.(c)S.Deshapriya. But Sri Lanka’s biggest worry is a fresh eruption of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe power struggle. New space has emerged for de-escalating Sri Lanka’s political crisis with the timely and judicious intervention by the Sri Lankan Supreme Court. […]
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Sri Lanka:Protesting for democracy, in their own way
Image: Civil society groups and activists hold placards during a protest demanding that democracy be restored in the country as they gather at the Independence Square in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Nov. 19, 2018. | Photo Credit: AP. Meera Srinivasan DECEMBER 15, 2018 . Civil society groups and activists hold placards during a protest demanding […]
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President Sirisena’s dissolution of Parliament illegal, rules Sri Lanka Supreme Court
Image: A protester at the on Sathyagrahaya against the dissolution preparing fire crackers just before the SC decision on 13 Dec 18. (c) S.Deshapriya. Meera Srinivasan COLOMBO, DECEMBER 13. For over a month now, the country has been left without a legitimate government or cabinet. In a landmark case of the Sri Lankan judiciary ruling […]
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Campaign in Mannar to protect Human remains of Mannar Mass Grave
Human skeletons of 269 people have been unearthed within 115 days of excavation of Mannar Mass Grave , the countries biggest mass grave which was discovered in May 2018 in Mannar city of Northern Sri-Lanka, and this situation has raised serious concerns among human rights defenders and war affected communities on justice, future protection and non recurrence. Also the […]
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A constitutional crisis is not a dispute between monks – Kishali Pinto Jayawardene.
Cartoon: Courtesy of The Morning. President Maithripala Sirisena’s implied criticism of the Sri Lankan judiciary when speaking at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) convention this Tuesday, referencing himself as the Mahanayake (seniormost prelate) of a Nikaya (chapter) being educated by the head monk of a village temple invokes strong and unequivocal condemnation in no […]
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Sri Lanka’s coup without the guns and the implications on rule of law, democracy and reconciliation.- Sunanda Deshapriya
Image: A civil society initiative, Rise Up has mobilized citizens against the #CoupLK. Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena was hailed as Sri Lanka’s Mandela by his supporters in January 2015. He is now being called Sri Lanka’s Mugabe after his recent actions plunged the country into a chaotic constitutional crisis of unprecedented gravity. On Friday […]
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The Court of Appeal decision Petition against appointment of PM and ministers
In the case at hand before this Court, the 122 Petitioner members of the 225 member Parliament state that a no-confidence motion was passed by a majority in the said Parliament. The Petitioners allege that the Respondents have usurped the public office namely the respective positions in the office of Prime Minister, Cabinet of Ministers […]
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Sri Lanka: This is a sloppy but de facto dictatorship
The proto-fascist rouge-regime is floundering trying to consolidate itself. Kumar David. Much ink has flowed discussing recent events and much moral judgement offered; another such piece is redundant. My focus today is on the next stage. By way of preface I first put down a few facts on paper. Love him or hate him, Ranil […]
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Looming prospect of targeted sanctions: How appropriate are they ? – Ranga Jayasuriya
Not long ago, the stooges of Mahinda Rajapaksa, and MR himself, spewed some fanciful justifications for the contested ( and obviously unethical) sacking of Ranil Wickremesinghe, and MR’s appointment as prime minister in one Friday night quirk by President Maithripala Sirisena. One argument was that MR was appointed to salvage the crumbling economy. That Ranil […]
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Sri Lanka’s first ‘government’ that will not participate in Parliament? – Kishali Pinto Jayawardene
Beyond the distasteful power squabbles that presently make up the sum total of Sri Lankan politics or ‘politricks’ as cynics are wont to say, the three men at the core of the crisis undermining the nation’s constitutional text, (viz; Maithripala Sirisena, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe) need to realise a basic fact. Their currency of […]
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‘JVP and TNA must fight together’ – Anura Kumara, JVP
Anura Kumara Dissanayake. File photo. | Photo Credit: Meera Srinivasan . Sri Lanka’s Leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or the People’s Liberation Front has been a crucial dissenting voice in the wake of the political crisis persisting for a month now. Its six MPs in Parliament, including party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, have been both emphatic […]
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Cabinet of Ministers shall stand dissolved, when Parliament passes a vote of no-confidence – Rajeev Amarasuriya
Rajeev Amarasuriya is an Attorney-at-Law in practice in the area of public law before the Superior Courts. He is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA – UK), and an Alumnus of both the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Executive Education. […]
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The palpable horror in the house by the Diyawanna – Kishali Pinto Jayawardena
Image: pro Rajapaksa MP Weerawansa threatening police officers protecting speaker Jayasuriya. As pro-Rajapaksa parliamentarians threw water lethally spiced with red chillie into the eyes of unarmed police officers valiantly guarding Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, the seventy-eight year old Speaker may take heart that his grace under fire will stand out as the most remarkable example of […]
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Call for a Presidential Election The best way to solve the Constitutional Crisis in Sri Lanka
( November 16, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) We are passing the dark days of our nation by risking longstanding democratic values that are being disturbed by the Executive Power. President Maithripala Sirisena must apologize before the people and nation for creating this putrid mess to gain personal political advantages. He is hammering and burying all principles […]
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Sri Lanka: Powerful arguments by leading lawyers against the dissolution of the parliament at the SC hearing.
Image: Media awaiting for news, in front of the SC on 12 Nov 2018. Strong arguments were presented in the Supreme Court today in favour of the petitions filed against President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to prematurely dissolve Parliament. The hearing took place before a three-judge bench, presided over by Chief Justice Nalin Perera. FR Petitions […]
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Reigning in the Executive President – Radhika Coomaraswamy
Image: Radhika Coomaraswamy. (ada derana) For the most part of the last few weeks we have been in a suspended state of disbelief. Yes, the 2015 government had not lived up to its expectations, some people were plotting for the next election to teach them a lesson, and then lightning struck. The Prime Minister was […]