Image: Editor Sri Lanka Brief, then FMM convener speaking to press during the protest calling for speedy impartial instigation in to abduction and assault of  Keith Noyar. Sri Lanka’s police made a breakthrough Saturday in their investigations in to the abduction of journalist Keith Noyar by arresting three military personnel, including an officer holding the […]

By Saurav Jung Thapa. Efforts to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity in Sri Lanka, an island state off the southern coast of India, appear to be gaining steam as the country negotiates a preferential trade deal with the European Union (E.U.). Sri Lanka is one of 72 countries around the world that criminalize same-sex acts. […]

Image: Sri Lankan refugees on a boat at the Australian cost; file photo by EPA/Wisnu Adi. Issuing a statement the Australian Tamil Congress (ATC)  has rejected the Sri Lankan PM’s statement  that all Sri Lankan refugees in Australia come back safely.  “Most Tamils fled Sri Lanka due to persecution and torture by the state.  Prime […]

Image: Suresh Premachandran. EPRLF leader and former Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandra  hs said that that all members parties in the TNA do not support the government’s proposals to obtain more time to address accountability issues because  the proposal is aimed at protecting the government. He was addressing a press conference in Jaffna on 16th February. Premachandra […]

Image: Participant mother to in a struggle get their occupied land back take a rest in front of Military warning.  (Feb 2017). Sri Lanka committed with Resolution 30/1 to undertake a comprehensive approach to dealing with the past, including ensuring truth, justice, reparation and non-recurrence for human rights violations and abuses. This is an important […]

Image: Aruna Roy, one of the front line civil activist on RTI in India. The Right to Information Commission of Sri Lanka says that  that participation and feedback by citizens is vital to bringing about a culture of accountability and openness in Sri Lanka  which is the primary objective of the RTI Act and looks […]

Image: protesting villagers  Keppapilavu by @shalin. We, the undersigned civil society organizations, write this statement to express solidarity with protestors of Keppapilavu and condemn the Government’s lack of appropriate and timely response or action towards releasing their land from military occupation. For over two weeks, villagers from Pilakudiyiruppu, Keppapilavu, have been stationed on the side […]

Image: Human rights activist Sudarshana Gunawardene. Excerpts from and interview with Attorney at law and executive director of Right Now Collective for Democracy Sudarshana Gunawaradena. To me, the Sri Lankan identity is open to change. Some people refer to our history starting with Ravana. This epic says Ravana went to India and returned with Sita. […]

Members  of the Rajapaksa led Joint opposition   resigned from the Sub Committees attached to the Constitutional Assembly today. Members of the parliament  Bandula Gunawardane, Keheliya Rambukwella and Tharaka Balasuriya tendered their resignations and said that  they officially rejected the reports produced by the 6 Sub Committees and added that they had participated in this procedure […]

GENEVA (15 February 2017) – The UN Human Rights Office today launched its most ambitious funding appeal yet, urging States and private donors to bolster the Office’s ability to work and stand up for human rights for all people, everywhere. The estimated budged for work in Sri Lanka is USD 648,000. “Our world has entered […]

Secretary to the Media Ministry Nimal Bopage says that a policy decision will be taken regarding Facebook and not to ban but regulate it. He has not elaboreted what he means by regulating it. He also firther  says he has already communicated this to his superiors and adds that he imegine “ banning  Facebook for […]

Image:A Sri Lanka mother who’s son was abducted in Colombo in 2010 taks a rest  in front of UNHRC Geneva office after attending a protest calling for justice for the disappeared. (c) s.deshapriya. The United Kingdom announced yesterday that it is working on a follow-up resolution in reaction to the High Commissions’s report and they […]

The officials at the Mass Media and Parliamentary Reforms Ministry has told Minister Ranjan Ramanayaka  that  a new Media Commission Bill will be enacted shortly by the Government. Ministry Secretary H.D.S. Malkanthi has futher told him that there is no system to respond to the electronic media when a person was attacked repeatedly. This was revealed […]

By Dharisha Bastians. The Government has proposed draft legislation to criminalise disappearances in line with its international obligations, even as the country grapples with the legacy of 65,000 people still missing after two insurgencies and a civil war. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance Bill was gazetted by order […]

Image:Clashes with police turned violent in December, when around 1,000 veterans formed a human shield between police and ‘water protector’ protesters Getty Images. ‘We’ve stood in the face of fire before. We feel a responsibility to use the skills we have’ Samuel Osborne – @SamuelOsborne93 US army veterans are returning to Standing Rock to protect […]

Image:  S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole. Member of Sri Lanka’s election commission, S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole is predicting long over due local government results and thretening to disrupt election process if he is not provided more finacial allowences. He was nominated by the TNA to the election commision although he did not apply to be apointed to […]

Ezhuga Thamizh in Batticaloa; Image courtesy @garikaalan. The “Ezhuga Thamizh” rally held in the Eastern city of Batticaloa on February 10, 2017, organized by the Tamil People’s Council (TPC), with the participation of civil society movements, and political parties — is a unified sovereign voice of the Tamil nation. The Tamil nation which has been […]

The Judicial Service Association (JSA) of the judges has  expressed their opposition to the appointment of Ramanathan Kannan as high court judge by the president. JSA says that this appoinment une  counter to the promise made by the president to the judges , unlawful , unethical and in breach of  legal traditions. In essence what […]

Sri Lanka has reached third best place in the RTI global ranking. Mexico and Serbia are in the first and second places. Simultaneously Sri Lanka becomes the best in South Asia, by passing India says Canadian based RTI watch-dog Center for Law and Democracy (CLD). “Countries often go up a few points on the RTI […]

Tamil Lawyers Forum of Sri Lanka  has called on the UNHRC to  referr Sri Lanka  forthwith to the UN General Assembly to referred to the UN Security Council with a mandate to be submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or for the establishment of an ad-hoc International Criminal Tribunal on Srilanka similar to that […]

Image:  Ezhuka Tamil in Batticaloa @shalin. Ezhuka Tamil – ‘Rise Tamil’ rally  which was held in Batticaloa 10th February  was attended by huge crowds carrying   flags of red and yellow the colors of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The offcial colour of the Ezhuka Tamil  is same as the LTTE. The rally was held in […]

Image: More than 100 garment factories had to closed down and thousands of women workers lost their jobs because of the suspension on GSP + concession. A group of International NGOs and individuals have called on the European Parliament to reject the EU Commission’s proposal to restore the GSP+ trade preference status to Sri Lanka. […]

Image: In August 2016 Families of the disappeared marched in Colombo supporting OMP. ©s.deshapriya. The Office on Missing Persons is to be stripped of its power of entering into agreements with an individual or an organization, reports The Island. Cabinet had on Tuesday approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to repeal paragraph (A) […]

Image: In Jaffna woman signing a public petition in support of protesting IDPs @shalin. We, a collective of Sri Lankan individuals and organisations working for the advancement of the human rights of women, are unanimous in our concern about the disturbing news that certain provisions in the National Human Rights Action Plan, critical to women’s […]

Image: Victims of the prison massacre . Prime Minster Wickremesinghe tabled the report in parliament on Welikada prison killings and promised to bring the killers to book  on 7th February. A  Committee headed by retired High Court Judge Nimal Nambuwasam and comprising retired Senior DIG Ashoka Wijethilake and retired Administrative Officer S. K. Liyanage was […]

Image: Namal Rajapaksa being taken to prison (file photo) The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) conducting investigations against six suspects including Hambantota district MP Namal Rajapaksa for their alleged involvement in money laundering amounting to Rs.45 million involving two companies owned by Namal Rajapaksa yesterday informed Court that the Attorney General was expecting to file […]

Issuing  a statement today ( 9th Feb) “Sri Lanka Campaign” says that a fresh evaluation by them found  limited evidence of progress on accountability and reconciliation by the government of Sri Lanka and  calls on the UN Human Rights Council to pass robust follow up resolution in March. “Sri Lanka Campaign” is not affiliated with […]

Sri Lanka to give priority to constitution drafting over war crimes accountability mechanisms. Colombo, February 8 (The New Indian Express): The Sirisena-Wickremesinge government in Sri Lanka will give priority to drafting a new constitution for the country over setting up war crimes accountability mechanisms like the Judicial Mechanism and the Truth Seeking Commission, Foreign Minister […]

File photo: Poster against High Commissioner Zeid in Colombo. Should Sri Lanka ‘Roll Over’ in Geneva? The 47-member Human Rights Council (HRC) has a mandate to hold no fewer than three regular sessions a year, for a total of at least ten weeks. These sessions take place in March (four weeks), June (three weeks) and […]

Sri Lanka’s war zone after the end of war on May 2009. By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI, AP/ Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka says it needs more time to fulfill promises given to the U.N. human rights body to investigate war crime allegations from the nation’s long civil war, which ended nearly eight years ago. Foreign Minister Mangala […]