Human Rights

 Addressing a election rally in Vavuniya, SLPP presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that he had a programme to provide government jobs to at least one member in each poverty-stricken family reports Daily Mirror. He has further said that “We are the ones who created an environment for you to live in peace and harmony. […]

Image: On the International Day of the Disappeared, 30 August, Colombo. © Sunanda Deshapriya. The OMP made such progress amidst an array of challenges including lack of cooperation from key state actors and continuous efforts to deny the rights of families of the missing and disappeared, says Saliya Pieris P. C. , Chairperson, Office on Missing Persons issuing a […]

  NPP candidate launches manifesto titled ‘Hope of a Nation’ Strengthening democracy and rule of law, ensuring corruption free administration prioritised Public security and national peace also on top of agenda Pledges to downsize Cabinet to 25 and cut retirement perks for politicians National Peoples’ Power (NPP) presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday unveiled his […]

Image: Sajith Premadasa must get at least 75% of the Tamil vote to have a chance of winning.  By Professor S W R de A Samarasinghe. Only about three weeks remain before Sri Lankans go to the polls to elect a new president. The fight is between SLPP’s Gotabaya Rajapaksa and UNP’s Sajith Premadasa. JVP’s Anura […]

Ten years after the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war,all ethnic communities living in the border areas of the conflict zone appreciate having a level of security. However, they do not consider the country to be at peace;ethnic/religious divides remain damagingly strong and people feel utter despair over continuing economic difficulties and political failures. National […]

Beth Van Schaack. Last Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner dismissed Wickrematunge v. Rajapaksa. In a laconic four-page ruling, Klausner held that the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the suit against defendant Gotabaya (“Gota”) Rajapaksa, former Defense Minister of Sri Lanka, because he was entitled to common law foreign official immunity. The ruling dealt a blow to […]

Report of the Select Committee of Parliament to look into and report to Parliament on the Terrorist Attacks that took place in different places in Sri Lanka on 21st April 2019. Executive Summary: On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, suicide terrorist bombings that took place in three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka killed around 277 […]

23 October 2018 Johannesburg: The International Truth and Justice Project has called for a review of all naval cooperation with Sri Lanka after it found a large number of top Sri Lankan navy commanders were complicit in torture, disappearance and murder that occurred inside naval sites from at least 2008-14. “The Sri Lankan Navy: Turning […]

 FILE PHOTO: Chief of staff of Sri Lankan army Shavendra Silva attends a news conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo (Swiss Info) WASHINGTON (Reuters). Sri Lanka’s president appointed Shavendra Silva as its army chief in August, drawing sharp criticism from the United States and the United Nations. A U.N. panel […]

San Francisco, October 21, 2019: The United States District Court for the Central District of California granted former Sri Lankan Secretary of Defense Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s motion to dismiss Ahimsa Wickrematunge’s lawsuit against him for the assassination of her father, prominent Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge. The Court held that it lacks the jurisdiction to consider […]

  The California District Court of US has dismissed and denied allegations levelled against former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa by Ahimsa Wickramatunga, the daughter of slain Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickramatunga on the ground that it was a officially sanctioned killing and as defence secratary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has ” foreign official immunity”. We reproduce number […]

Raj Gonsalkorale. Both candidates need to articulate their plans, and not mouth motherhood statements about taking the country to dizzy fairy-tale heights. Specifics are needed now, as Sri Lanka has an intelligent voter base who will understand such an economic recovery plan. The Presidency is the symbol of the country, and whoever who wins must […]

Image: 27 prisoners were shot to death on that day. On last Wednesday, the testimony of prosecution witness, Former Assistant Superintendent P.W. Kudabandara before the Special Trial at Bar set up to probe into the Welikada prison massacre stunned the packed courthouse. Appearing before the court at its second hearing, the Former Assistant Superintendent of the […]

Image: In March 2017 Ai Weiwei launched  a massive sculpture featuring 70 metre long boat with 258 refugees (www.creativeboom.com) An overview of the definition of refugee status under the Refugee Convention, 1951. The language of a legislation or convention is significant since it is the basis for claiming rights and making significant decisions. Notably, the definition […]

Image: The Sword of Damocles. With the presidential election campaign now well underway, it appears that the contest is between the two main candidates, Sajith Premadasa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In the absence of scientific polling in Sri Lanka, no credible voter sentiment analysis is available. Therefore we are all compelled to rely on speculation. Outside the […]

Image: The police had been present during the entire incident and did nothing to prevent Gnanasara Thera from violating the court order, says the petitioner. Fresh contempt of court papers have been filed against controversial Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Galagodaththe Gnanasara Thera, over his actions in violation of an order by the Mullaitivu Magistrate’s […]

Playwright Malaka Devapriya, who was summoned to the Organised Crimes Prevention Division (OCPD) of the Police this morning over a radio drama he had written directed, was released on the same day. His lawyer Wilson Jayasekara told RepublicNext that Devapriya was let go as the OCPD was satisfied with his statement. The award-winning dramatist, radio playwright, […]

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Presidential candidate, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa today dismissed allegations on LTTE cadres who surrendered to the military during the war. Rajapaksa also said that if he becomes President his Government will not recognize the UN Resolution on Sri Lanka which was passed by the UN Human Rights Council in […]

The victory of the SLPP at the long-postponed Pradeshiya sabha election in Elpitiya did not come as a surprise.  This had been an area that has consistently supported the SLFP from which the SLPP has taken the larger part.  Virtually all local authorities in the Southern Province went to the SLPP at the last local […]

Three retired service commanders, Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke), Admiral Tisara Samarasinghe and General Daya Ratnayake, has  alleged that the war winning military was being penalised in terms of the Geneva Resolution co-sponsored by the government, in Oct 2015. They were speaking at a special press conference organised for the same purpose on 13 Oct […]

On May 21, 2009 Rajiv Naganathan had made one final call to his mother Sarojini. The 19 -year old Naganathan was abducted on September 17, 2008, one of 11 young boy victims at the centre of an abduction for ransom racket allegedly run by Sri Lanka Navy personnel and busted by the Criminal Investigation Department […]

Cartoon by @Nikshazz . Sri Lanka’s floating voters, struggling to find their feet in the unpromising pandemonium of November’s Presidential elections, can only flinch from ‘Pohottuwa’ Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s promise at his inaugural campaign rally following nominations in Anuradhapura on Wednesday, that he would free all ‘war heroes’ held in custody on ‘bogus charges’ the day after he […]

Image: A slew of pro-democracy civil society organisations  has declared their support for New Democratic Front candidate and UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa at the forthcoming presidential elections. The National Movement for Social Justice and the Puravesi Balaya, the two best known pro-democracy social activist movements, announced to the news media yesterday that they wanted […]

By Meera Srinivasan. “For three years now, Sri Lanka’s tea estate workers have been agitating for a daily basic wage of LKR 1,000.” A tea estate worker in the Dambatenne tea plantation in Haputale, Uva Province. Often described as the backbone of the economy, close to 1.5 lakh tea estate workers have been agitating for fair […]

Basil Rajapaksa told the country that their presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential election “will change himself”. Basil Rajapaksa also told us that “Gotabaya will be a terminator”- an apt description, in view of the connotations of danger attached to the word “terminator”. M.P. Vasudeva Nanayakkara, an unwavering Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalist, accepted that white van […]

TO THE ATTENTION OF HIS EXCELLENCY ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS. UN’s Participation is Vital to Establish Rule of Law and to Protect the Rights of Minorities in Sri-Lanka. Since 1948, we the minority people of Sri-Lanka have continuously been subjected to oppressions by the discriminatory ethnic policies of the governments that […]

Image: Sri Lankan Muslim women walk past a roadside shop selling metal plaque engraved with phrases from the Holy Quran in Colombo [File: Eranga Jayawardena/AP] A “harsh and dangerous” crackdown on Sri Lankan Muslims following deadly bombings on Easter Sunday poses a major threat to the Indian Ocean nation’s peace and security, a think-tank has warned. The assailants […]

Image; Tamil residents of Mullaitivu protest against BBS head Gnanasara, who led the illegal cremation . Northern Province Governor Dr. Suren Raghavan yesterday insisted that politicians should not create communal and religious tensions ahead of the presidential election, targeting the Northern voters and hindering their democratic rights. “As the Northern Province governor, I urge politicians not […]

Image: Policeman watching from afar at the illegal cremation of  a Buddhist monk in  Chemmalai, Mullaitivu , violating a court order. Perhaps the most important election, with the only competition for this title coming from the parliamentary elections, is just around the corner. How well the result reflects the people’s will depends on the free exercise […]

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Hon. Dappula De Livera pC Attorney- General Attorney General’s Department Hulftsdorp Street Colombo. Hon. Attorney General, The Human Rishts Commission of Sri Lanka’s (HRCSL) analysis of the scope of section 3 of the ICCPR Act. No.55 of 2007 and attendant guidelines. The HRCSL is pleased to present herewith the Commission’s legal […]