Human Rights

On January 31, official government spokesperson Rambukwella made a formal announcement at the weekly news briefing that Sri Lanka’s delegation to the UN Human Rights Council would be led by Minister MahindaSamarasinghe. The latter is the President’s Special Envoy on Human Rights and led the Sri Lanka team at last year’s sessions of the Council. […]

The JVP yesterday charged that those responsible for the Matale killings during 1987-89 period, directly or indirectly, were now holding high ranking posts in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government.Addressing a media conference at the party head office, in Pelawatte yesterday, JVP parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that they could not expect from the government […]

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today called for further action by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against the Sri Lanka government. The party in a statement said that appropriate action at the UNHRC is absolutely necessary to persuade the Sri Lankan government to comply with the said resolution and to discontinue with what it […]

As excavations being conducted at the mass grave discovered near the Matale Hospital continue, the number of human skulls unearthed from excavations carried out so far has reached 136.It has been reported that 142 skeletal remains have also been found and that additional teams have currently been placed to carry out further excavations. Skulls and […]

(Section on Sri Lanka in HRE 2013 world Report) The Sri Lankan government in 2012 continued its assault on democratic space and failed to take any meaningful steps towards providing accountability for war crimes committed by either side during the internal armed conflict that ended in 2009. The government targeted civil society through threats, surveillance, […]

United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay has sought to dispatch ten special rapporteurs to Sri Lanka to assess the implementation of the recommendations by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the Daily Mirror learns. This is in addition to last year’s visit of three officials from the High Commissioner’s office to Sri Lanka.  […]

By ANI The Sri Lankan government continued its assault on civil society and failed to take meaningful steps towards accountability for war crimes during the country’s armed conflict that ended in 2009, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2013 released today.In its 665-page report, Human Rights Watch assessed progress on human rights during […]

Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain DonahoeU.S. Representative to the UN Human Rights Council “The Human Rights Council: How relevant is it and what is the role of the United States?” –  BY Ambassador Donahoe (Delivered at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy,January 24, 2013)Thank you Ambassador Tanner for this invitation and the lovely reception. I am so […]

UN Chief Slams Beheading Of Rizana HR High Commissiner expressed deep dismay on the execution of Rizana Nafeek EU dismayed at Rizana’s execution UK and France condemn killing of Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Norway ‘shocked’ by execution of Rizana Nafeek    UN Chief Slams Beheading Of Rizana  UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon is dismayed by the […]

Rev. Fr. Praveen OMI Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) grilled Rev. Fr. Praveen OMI, Director of the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation (CPR) in Jaffna, for 7 hours on Tuesday, news sources in Jaffna said. TID personnel who went to the office of the centre at No 8, Grousseault Road in Jaffna by 8.30 […]

AHRC-STM-011-2013.JPG Rizanna’s family in Sri Lanka A Statement from the Asian Human Rights CommissionAccording to reports received, the Government of Saudi Arabia has executed Ms. Rizana Nafeek (1988 – 9 January 2013) today. The embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh has confirmed this report. Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to categorically state, that the […]

Female Tamil prisoners in Sri Lanka ( file photo) Mano Ganesan Mano Ganesan, the Leader of the Democratic People’s Front said that ‘the lamentable death of Kaathai Muththusamy, a 68 year-old female of the Adawaththa Estate, Lunugala in Badulla, who died yesterday after a long illness while in prison is proof enough for the arrogance […]

Will there be any justice? Mothers participating in  the demonstration In a strange turn of affairs, SL minister Douglas Devnanda’s Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP), a paramilitary collaborating with Sri Lanka government, demonstrated on Thursday against the rape and murder of a 4-year-old child in one of the islets off Jaffna, shouting slogans against the […]

Editorial, Ceylon Today: A lot like the old year? As the sun rises over a new dawn, bringing with it a promise of change, reality keeps chipping in, reminding us of the surfeit of reasons why it is difficult to look forward to 2013 with any degree of hope. Needless to say, most of these […]

2013: Vital year for democracy and justice – Editorial, Daily MirrorA New Year dawned today with the usual extravagant five-star balls while some half a million people were seriously affected by floods, earthslips or landslides in 21 districts. Most people have read about or watched the spectacular tragedy of the Titanic, but we don’t seem […]

Following a decision of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights, the implementing arm of the Permanent Standing Committee on Human Rights, a Committee chaired by Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne was appointed by the then Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights to make proposals for a new Bill of Rights to replace the present chapter on […]

Lanka e News- Were Welikade prisoners abducted during the clash ? 100 missing and Registers lost:After the mass murders that were committed at the Welikade prison on 9th November following a sudden raid that was conducted pursuant to the illegal orders issued by Gotabaya , some of the suspects detained in the prison pending murder […]

Sri Lanka last week abstained from voting at the UN General Assembly in favour of abolishing the death penalty.The draft resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty was adopted by a recorded vote of 111 in favour to 41 against, with 34 abstentions.According to Amnesty International Sri Lanka, the Maldives and […]

Journalists, gays, lesbians, suspected LTTE supporters favoured; but warns of armed forces personnel The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has listed persons suspected of LTTE links, journalists, opposition politicians, political activists, and gays and lesbians, as being among the categories of Sri Lankans “likely to be in need of international refugee protection.” On […]

Non violence met with state violence , Jaffna 27 Nov 2012 Arresting four students without charge and sending them off for ‘rehabilitation’ sends a dangerous message that any Tamil can be detained arbitrarily and indefinitely. The Sri Lankan authorities should realize that such actions generate legitimate grievances, not reconciliation. –Brad Adams, Asia director (New York) […]

A police officer covers part of a dead body at a building site in Matale, a central town 142 km (88 miles) from the capital, Colombo, December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte Reuters/Reuters – A police officer covers part of a dead body at a building site in Matale, a central town 142 km (88 miles) […]

Cold blooded murder – A prisoner shot dead While the Human Rights Commission said they were awaiting the report of the Commission appointed to inquire into the alleged massacre at the Welikada Prison on November 9, opposition parties yesterday said many questions had been raised as to the progress of the report.The Commission appointed by […]

Startling Revelations In Matale Burial Sites Investigations into the skeletal remains found at a mass grave in Matale took a new twist last week amidst claims of attempts to suppress the truth.The Consultant Judicial Medical Officer of the Matale District Hospital, Dr Ajith Jayasena insisted that claims the skeletons dated back 40 years was ‘a […]

Consultant Judicial Medical Officer of Base Hospital, Matale Dr Ajith Jayasena collecting bones of those buried. Disrespectful mass burial The skeletal remains that were found at the Matale District Hospital compound has put the whole nation in a state of shock, and questions are being raised about the identity of the three skeletons, and how […]

Rajapaksha heading towards a totalitarian regime ( photo BBC) Intellectuals for Human Rights (IFHR) in its report for this year said the Human Rights situation in Sri Lanka has suffered a major setback in the first 10 months with the rule of law, individual liberty and the independence of the Judiciary having received an unprecedented […]

Demonstration by Movement for Peoples Struggle In Mannar they asked ” where is my daddy?” In Killinochchi they Demand justice for the disappeared; In Colombo Protests called for  freedom of the judiciary  and IFHR released Human Rights Report 2012  Mannar: Where is my Father? A massive protest was held in Mannar yesterday appealing the release […]

Or it may simply be because their leaders are so focused on their own grip on power and wealth…….- Pillay 10.12.12  Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Human Rights Day – 10 December 2012Millions of people have gone on to the streets over the past few years, in countries […]

“Where we come from does not determine who we can become. What we look like places no limits on what we can achieve. We should all have the right to express ourselves, all have the right to be heard, all have the right to be what we can be: To reach for the sky and […]

6th December, 2012 We the undersigned, strongly condemn the arrest of four students of the University of Jaffna (UoJ) by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) on Thursday, November 29, 2012. While welcoming the release of Kanesamoorthy Sutharsan, a student of the Jaffna Medical Faculty on the morning of Tuesday, December 4, we condemn the continued […]

Major General Shavendra Silva with troops Three cases around the world reflect a new trend in international justice – while Sri Lanka shows no intention of properly dealing with accusations its military committed atrocities in the closing months of the civil war in 2009, cases have opened in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.S. against […]