memorialisation

At the last stages of the war thousands of civilians who lived in the Vanni Region of Northern Sri-Lanka were killed, injured and disappeared. Surrenders of war and persons among detainees were gone disappeared. When war intensified in late 2008 people of Vanni region started to move towards Mullaitivu district from other parts of Vanni. […]

Image: Exhibition by the Geneva lake side, April, 2018. (c) s.deshapriya. (CPA, Colombo, Sri Lanka) The insurrections of the 1970s, the riots of 1983 and the 30-year conflict – all which have immeasurably shaped the country’s history and have far more reaching consequence for its future – are glaringly absent from the history syllabus of […]

    Freedom of Expression. FACTS. Only a few investigations in to killings, abductions and assaults of journalists during the decade ending in 2015 have been initiated. No indictments served on any suspect so far. No investigation has been initiated on killings, abductions and assaults of Tamil journalists and media workers. No investigation has been […]

Image: The event that the government banned.  In a letter sent to President Sirisena,  chairperson of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission  Dr. Deepika Udagama calls on the government to to ensure the right of families to engage in memorialisation activities, and also the security of persons who engage in such activities. Rev. Fr. Elil Rajendran […]

 Shiran Illanperuma. Reporting from Mullivaikkal, Mullaitivu. The harassment of a Jesuit priest, organising a memorial service to mark the brutal end of the Civil War—where at least 40,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed—has raised concerns over the continuing surveillance of memorialisation efforts in the war-scarred North-East and its effect on reconciliation.Father Elil Rajendram […]

Image: Preparations for the memorialisation includes carving names of the dead relatives on stones. 25th May, 2017. We, the undersigned individuals and organisations, strongly condemn the continued police harassment of Rev. Fr. Elil Rajendram, a Tamil Catholic Priest belonging to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), based in Mullaithivu, Northern Sri Lanka. Many of us have met and […]

Image: Eastern Uni students observed Mullivaaikaal commemoration inside campus premises on 18th May. @garikaalan. (NPC) The court injunction against a commemoration in Mullivaikkal in the North of those who lost their loved ones in the last battle of the war on May 18 highlights a problem that needs resolution. In the South the government commemorated the […]

Image: Preparations were under way for the Mullivaikkal 18 May stones commemoration. credit @itjpsl Sir Lanka police have obtained a stay order from the Mullaitivu Magistrate’s Court against the memorialisation event organised by the Tamil civil society scheduled to be heal on 18th May. This is the first time Sri Lankan state has banned a memorialisation event after new […]