Situation Analysis

The SLPP struck a chord projecting political stability and capitalising on failures of the previous coalition government. The results of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election held on Wednesday show a seismic shift in the country’s electoral map as well as the balance of political power. The near two-thirds parliamentary majority, easily achieved by the Sri Lanka […]

Image: Ishara S. Kodikara/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images/NYT. By Maria Abi-Habib. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s governing party won a majority of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary seats, the Election Commission announced Friday, bringing the president a step closer in his quest to amend the Constitution and expand his executive power. The Sri Lanka People’s Front expanded its majority, […]

Image: Agrarian distress: Farmers in Sri Lanka’s Polonnaruwa district are trying to make their voices heard.   | Photo Credit: Meera Srinivasan Disillusioned farmers in Polonnaruwa district ask why they must vote when their suffering persists amid unkept electoral promises. A week ahead of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections R.A. Karunavathi, a farmer in Chandana Pokuna village in Polonnaruwa, […]

On the eve of an election, what might a political party wish for? A strong brand, an effective party machine, plenty of money, a sympathetic press and a charismatic leader? How about a rival that is tired and discredited after a lacklustre term in office, and has split into factions that hurl more mud at […]

Image: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa wearing a protective mask gestures at his party candidates as he arrives at a campaign rally ahead of country’s parliamentary election, in Homagama, Sri Lanka, July 22, 2020. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte. Sri Lanka’s upcoming parliamentary elections will serve as an indicator of the island’s future political direction, potential executive […]

“Have you learned nothing from history?” – Freud (The Future of an Illusion) This day, 27 years ago, Sri Lanka was burning. During Black July, Sinhala mobs murdered not just Tamil men, women and children; they also killed prospects of peace and stability. They torched not just Tamil property, but also to prospects of economic […]

Lawyers, Human Rights Defenders and Journalists Arrested, Threatened, Intimidated 29 July 2020: The Sri Lankan government should end the targeted arrests, intimidation and threats against the lives and physical security of lawyers, activists, human rights defenders and journalists, 10 international human rights organizations said today. A campaign of fear has intensified since the 2019 presidential […]

Alfred Dundas Taylor, a civil architect to the Admiralty in the UK, Head of the Marine Survey Department was the first to have proposed the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project, in 1860. This canal cut across the Hindu God Rama’s bridge, also known as Ram-Setu. According to Hindu mythology, the bridge was built by Lord Rama, connecting the […]

Image: Due to the increased involvement of the Ministry of Defence in the prison system, the approach to ‘reform’ is rooted in a military mindset and ethos –  by Ruwan Walpola. The dysfunctional prison system discussed in the preceding section requires to be fundamentally changed. Yet, the root causes of the dysfunctionality are not being […]

In the last few months, human rights lawyers and journalists have faced arrests, threats and harassment. A report by the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association published in May 2020 shows that civil society faced challenges to register and operate while there have been various barriers to protests. […]

Image: AG Dappula De Livera, P.C. In his letter to the “Presidential Commission of Inquiry to inquire into and obtain information in relation to the alleged political victimization of Public Officers, Employees of State Corporations, Members of the Armed Forces and the Police Service who held posts during the period commencing from 8th January 2015 […]

An attitude of arrogant myopia; rejection of the outlook of scientific rationality; regarding intelligence-gathering as sufficient and downgrading scientific medical investigation/data collection/analysis (hence the Sri Jayewardenepura pullout); ignoring the Chief Epidemiologist-led, medical specialist-driven, globally acknowledged best practices constituting the managerial model of successful COVID-19 suppression; brusque contradiction of the warnings of the GMOA; a pandemic […]

Image: Hejaaz Hizbullah. By Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, Researcher at Amnesty International. As much of the island was celebrating the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, senior lawyer and minority and civic rights activist Hejaaz Hizbullah got an unusual call from the Ministry of Health. They said they were worried he may have contracted COVID-19 and advised him to […]

Six journalists’ organisations in Sri Lanka have come together to launch a Chater on  Rights and Responsibilities of Journalists in the face of increasing threats to jobs and their rights in the country.  It says that “Within the last 12 months, hundreds of journalists have lost their jobs, hence increasing the job insecurity of the […]

“There is an evening coming in across the fields, one never seen before, that lights no lamps.” Phillip Larkin (Going) “I want to reveal this. CID officers tried to show pictures. I had to order them to leave the chamber.”  That was Fort magistrate Ranga Dissanayake speaking in open court, on June 24th 2020. The pictures the CID […]

Doctors should be ‘on the lookout’ for heart complications in patients, BHF says. Jane Kirby More than half of heart scans among hospitalised Covid-19 patients are abnormal, suggesting the virus may have a devastating impact on this vital organ, according to new research. A study from 69 countries, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), found that 55 percent of 1,261 patients […]

Image courtesy of Tamil Guardian. In July 1995 the St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Navaly, Jaffna, was filled with displaced Tamils seeking refuge and safety from the war. People in Navaly, including members of the church youth club, were helping the displaced by providing them with food and setting up temporary toilets. According […]

The Power of One Vote After lengthy debate, confrontations and legal challenges, Sri Lanka’s 16th parliamentary election is set for August 5, 2020. Many are waiting with excitement to exercise their democratic right to elect the legislature that will decide the destiny of the country for the next 5 years. All the same, those who […]

Last month (May 2020) a Magistrate in Jaffna had withdrawn quarantine orders against the organizers of end of war commemorations, based on appeals by lawyers.[1] At least three lawyers have faced reprisals in the days afterwards. Attorney-at-Law Mr. Roy Dilaksan’s house was reported to have been attacked by unknown persons.[2]  Another lawyer who had appeared for the […]

A Wikileaks cable shows that the discussion  between Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Government of Sri Lanka begun as early as 2006. Although the focus of the MMC grant has changed over the years, it is clear that discussions were initiated by Mahinda Rajapaksa government in 2006. The cable says that “Governor Cabraal affirmed that […]

Image: Gota checking rice price. All good things must come to an end. Gota’s victory over LTTE and limited victory over COVID-19 are fast turning into just sweet but distant memories. A new enemy and one about whom Gota and his power cartel has very limited knowledge, and with no effective weapons to fight with, […]

Image: On the memorial wall,  International day for the disappeared 2019, Colombo, Sri Lanka. In a televised statement issued on 28 June 2020 Prime Minister Rajapaksa called for a strong mandate to defeat domestic and foreign conspirators and to overturn the Office for Missing Persons and national laws related to international Convention Against Enforced Disappearances. […]

The increasing irrelevance of a constitution for Sri Lanka. If President Gotabaya Rajapaksa can be so bold as to set up institutions running parallel to constitutional bodies situated in his Presidential Secretariat, the consequential question arises as to what need is there of a Constitution for Sri Lanka? This query becomes pertinent in regard to […]

The voyage from Serendib to Sri Lanka through Ceylon continues to be an uninterrupted tale of opportunities lost, scorned and spurned. The brutal end to the quarter-century war with the Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009 brought an unprecedented opportunity for the government to heal the Sinhala–Tamil ethnic divide. But now a new front is opening, one against Sri Lanka’s […]

Image: A Presidential Task Force appointed for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province, and focusing on Pottuvil in Ampara District, has more to its innocuous title than strikes the eyes. I will tell you a little secret about archaeologists, dear reader. They all pretend to be very high-minded. They claim that their sole aim […]

Sri Lankan authorities seize reporter Dharisha Bastians’ laptop in home raid/ June 18, 2020 . New York, June 18, 2020 – Sri Lankan authorities should immediately return journalist Dharisha Bastians’ computer and allow her to report without fear of official harassment, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 9, officials from the Criminal Investigation […]

Sunil Jayawardene was a representative for three-wheele drivers. He who went to make a representation to a finance company on behalf of one of the vehicle owners, whose three-wheeler had been taken by agents of that company. Sunil was assaulted by eight or more people in front of the company and murdered. This story is […]

Image@ At the second meeting of the Buddhist Advisory Council, Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed the Task Force led by Secretary Defense . In a letter to President Rajapaksa,  R. Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance says that “In its composition, the  Presidential Task Force for Archeological Heritage Management in the EASTERN PROVINCE, is Pan Sinhala. […]

“In the context of the pandemic, Sri Lanka is at the crossroads with its economy shattered and it is vital that we build confidence – both nationally and internationally – that the country will adopt rational and inclusive policies and approaches, that are transparent and credible responses to this crisis. The crisis is not an […]

 Image Courtesy :torturemag.org ‘So it seems to me that despite so many decisions, torture at police stations continues unabated, in utter contempt of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution…’[1]-Justice Kulatunga A 14-year old autistic boy assaulted by the police.[2] Peaceful protesters arrested using violence.[3]A teenager taken to the police station until his father arrives for questioning.[4] These […]