“Lawyers for Democracy” condemns the beastly and cowardly attack on three Catholic Churches and three tourist hotels, causing the death of nearly 150 innocent worshipers and tourists and causing serious injuries to hundreds. It is obvious that this is the result of a well-planned attack which shows a high level of professionalism. This is a […]

21 April 2019.  Blasts at Christian churches and hotels in Sri Lanka have killed 138 inlcuding at least 9 foreigners and left hundreds injured a top health official said. Explosions went off at churches in Colombo, Negambo and Baticaloa where devotees were celebrating Easter Mass. Explosions were also set off in Shangri La, Cinnamon Grand […]

From February 3 to April 14 this year, across Sri Lanka, there has been some sort of disruption against a Christian worship service every Sunday – on 11 successive Sundays to be specific. Christians in Sri Lanka suffer violations of their right to religion and belief regularly, but most incidents do not make it to […]

The attack by stone-wielding and fire-cracker throwing ruffians, reportedly led by a provincial politician of the newly minted Rajapaksa-led Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP), holding the President of the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka and twelve terrified worshippers hostage in a prayer centre in Anuradhapura on Palm Sunday is no isolated, mundane incident, as much […]

 19 April 2019.  Tamil Guardian’s correspondent Shanmugam Thavaseelan was summoned for questioning by Mullaitivu police on Thursday, after the Sri Lankan navy filed a complaint against him for reporting on a disappearances rally in the district. The complaint against the Mullaitivu journalist was filed following a rally by Tamil families of the disappeared on Vadduvakal […]

Image: Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother to the former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, at home in Colombo in December.CreditCreditAdam Dean for The New York Times. By Mike Ives and Dharisha Bastians In the decade since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended, a former wartime defense chief has successfully dodged accusations of crimes against humanity. He may soon run for president. But […]

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz. Sri Lanka was the last country in South Asia to adopt the Right to Information Act (RTI) in 2017. For many of us who were involved in discussions with our Sri Lankan counterparts before adoption of the law, it is gratifying to note the progress it has made in these […]

Susutha R. Fernando & Gihan de Chikera. While many Christians, non-Christians, politicians and government leaders in Sri Lanka were gripped by the fire that engulfed the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris last Monday, little attention was given to a mob attack on a small Christian congregation in the remote hamlet of Kumbichchikulama, near Anuradhapura. […]

Two parties that involved in the dispute over an alleged attack on a prayer centre in Anuradhapura have been summoned to Anuradhapura Magistrate Court today, police said. According the police, a group of youth staged a protest when the Methodist Church Bishop Asiri Perera visited a prayer centre in Anuradhapura on last Sunday when Palm […]

Image: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena speaks to the media April 1. (Photo by EPA/M.A.Pushpa Kumara/MaxPPP) Kingsley Karunaratne, Colombo. Sri Lanka still has many mountains to climb before it can close this painful chapter in its modern history regarding a slew of as-yet unresolved cases of enforced disappearances and other human rights abuses that occurred during […]

Dhathusen yahapalana. (A paralegal apprentice) According to news reports, former Defence Secretary and Presidential aspirant Gotabaya Rajapaksa is facing two civil suits in separate cases linked to events in Sri Lanka during his term in office in the US federal district court in California. One is a suit filed by Ahimsa Wickrematunge who is seeking […]

Image: The delegation of the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture  visited the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka too. GENEVA/COLOMBO (12 April, 2019) — The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture has completed its first visit to Sri Lanka from 2 to 12 April where it examined the treatment of people deprived of […]

Image: LTTE child soldier, 1987. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/APRIL 12, 2019/BERLIN. German authorities have indicted a Sri Lankan man suspected of involvement in killing 15 captured government soldiers while fighting for the Tamil Tigers rebel group. Federal prosecutors said Friday that 37-year-old Sivatheeban B. is accused of membership in a foreign terrorist organization, war crimes, two […]

Image: Sudanese celebrate after officials said the military had forced longtime autocratic President Omar al-Bashir to step down after 30 years in power in Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, April 11, 2019. © 2019 AP Images. (Nairobi) – The end of Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year rule provides a momentous opportunity for Sudan to put respect for human rights […]

Image: Sri Lanka’s Secretary of Defense Gotabaya Rajapaksa listens during a news conference in Colombo January 24, 2013. The Sri Lankan military should be given more training opportunities by the United States, Rajapaksa said on Thursday according to local media. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte . Shihar Aneez. COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who […]

Image: Disappearances by S.P. Pushpakanthan. (10 April 2019, London) The statements made by the Sri Lankan delegates at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) 40th session and again within a week after returning from Geneva are highly disappointing. The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) finds this disconcerting, considering Sri Lanka has just taken the positive step of co-sponsoring […]

Is President Maithripala Sirisena’s anti-narcotic campaign an opportunistic farce to lure voters to his bid for a second term in the office- or a genuine mission guided by a political will unseen in his predecessors? Public opinion seems to be mixed, not unsurprisingly in the partisan politics in the country and also due to the […]

 R .Sampanthan. As I have often stated earlier, the future of the country is not purely an economic issue. It is a very multifaceted issue. Even the future economy of the country is dependent upon several issues; it is dependent upon its unity and its strengths based upon the unity; it is dependent upon the […]

The Delegation of the European Union (EU) issues the following statement in agreement with the Embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Romania and the UK High Commission, the Embassies of Norway and Switzerland, as well as the High Commissions of Canada and Australia. The Government of Sri Lanka has recently taken measures towards resuming executions […]

DR. S. W. Premarathan – Attorney at Law. President Maithripala Sirisena, in the course of his speech to the nation on National Day, said that he is concerned about the interference of the members of the international community in the internal affairs of the country. There is no doubt that he had in his mind […]

Image: Shakthika Sathkumara Annya Wipulasena. When post-modernist, award winning novelist Shakthika Sathkumara walked into the Polgahawela Police Station on 1st April morning along with his lawyer and two other associates, what followed was completely unforeseen. About four Buddhist monks were at the station already. Sathkumara, a 33-year-old father of two, was hoping to avoid a confrontation […]

(Maneshka Borham/ Sunday Observer) The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) this week further strengthen its case against Sri Lanka’s top military chief, Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne after he was linked to the now famous case of 11 missing youth believed to have been abducted by a ‘Navy abduction for ransom gang’between 2008 – 2009. Arrested by the […]

Despite the struggle by tea estate workers to get their daily wage increased to Rs 1,000 in a bid to come out of their appalling living conditions, a Right to Information request filed with the Labour Department has revealed that a major trade union in the estate sector accrues over Rs 77 million as membership […]

Image: School students in Jaffna protests (19.01.2015) against oil leakage by Chunnakam power station which locals say is contaminating water supplies.( TG photo) Read the full text of the Supreme Court judgement ordering a thermal power station in Chunnakam to pay compensation to people : RAVINDRA GUNAWARDENA KARIYAWASAM Chairman, Centre for Environment and Nature Studies, Vs CENTRAL ENVIRONMENT AUTHORITY […]

Image: A live demonstration uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition in dense crowd spatial-temporal technology at an exhibit during the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, USA, 10 January 2019.  DAVID MCNEW/AFP/Getty Images. This statement was originally published on privacyinternational.org on 20 March 2019. Planning and participating in peaceful protests against governments or non-state actors’ policies and practices […]

On March 15, Muslims, grouping in their dozens, protested in front of the Sri Lanka Navy Camp in Silavathurai- home to the highest number of Muslims in Northern Province-demanding the Navy to move out of their residential area. Their mission behind this long-standing protest is to reclaim the 36 acre land; the home for many […]

Image: in March 2018 a group of people protested against teaches wearing Abaya to Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies College, Trincomalee. HRC/TCO/27/18 –HRCSL issues a recommendation that preventing teachers from wearing the Abaya while performing their duties is a violation of Articles 10, 12 (1), 12 (2) and 14 (e). In March 2018, four Assistant teachers […]

Following the publication of a short story written by Shaktika Sathkumara, an artist and writer in the Face Book, writer Satkumar has been arrested on the pretext that the said story disrespects the Buddhist philosophy and kept under detention until April 9. The Free Media Movement has expressed its dissatisfaction over this incident. According to […]

Shakthika Sathkumara, a award winning  writer, has been arrested by the police  and charged under ICCPR for insulting Buddhism and remanded for 19 days on 1st of April 2019. Shakthika Sathkumara has won several awards for his short stories and has published 5 books. The short stroy in question is called “arda” (Half) was published on […]

On the 5th of March, a long-delayed Budget was presented in Parliament by the Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera. While this delay is indicative of the major economical set backs caused by the political upheaval that took place last year on October 26th, the budget itself is a blueprint of the Government’s priority list for […]