Reconciliation

When bombs planted in churches and hotels killed more than 200 people in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, few had realised that the nation had a problem with Islamist militancy. One man who did, reports the BBC’s Secunder Kermani, was Mohammad Razak Taslim. Lying on a hospital bed, Mohammad Razak Taslim’s face contorts with pain. […]

Image: Galagodaatte Gnanasara has been serving concurrent jail terms over his disruptive behaviour in court. COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president granted an amnesty to a firebrand Buddhist monk on Wednesday, four days after holding talks with him at the country’s main prison, officials said. President Maithripala Sirisena pardoned Galagodaatte Gnanasara days after releasing 762 other convicts to […]

by Melani Manel Perera. Television operators invade the homes and privacy of survivors, they “must be educated in communications ethics”. A comment posted on Facebook sparks new violence against Muslims in Chilaw. Survivors must be supported in the long run by specialist groups. Taking care of even the first responders, priests and nuns included. Colombo […]

Statement by the United Nations in Sri Lanka on the prevailing situation in the country. 2019 May 14 (Colombo, Sri Lanka) – The United Nations in Sri Lanka is concerned about emerging incidents of communal violence and tension in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. The United Nations calls on the Government and […]

Human societies scattered across the world have evolved over time under diverse circumstances, both material/ecological and ideational. Though archaeologists, historians and philosophers have gone far back in time in tracing the above process, modern social and human scientists have observed human societies in more recent times and uncovered certain patterns in the way they have […]

Abbraar Masjid mosque is seen after a mob attack in Kiniyama, Sri Lanka May 13, 2019.   | Photo Credit: Reuters. Meera Srinivasan. Police impose island-wide curfew till Tuesday morning amid fears of escalation in violence. Mobs attacked several mosques, torched dozens of shops and homes of Muslims in Kurunegala District, some 100 km north-west of […]

Wrong To Have Withdrawn Military Training Ambassador Blake regretted that after the Sri Lanka-LTTE war ended in May 2009, the US had stopped its military aid and training programs in the island on the plea that there had been human rights violations by the Lankan military. “In the last years of the war in 2008 […]

Image Courtesy of Aithiya.lk. Ahilan Kadirgamar. As reports about those behind the Easter Sunday attacks emerge, many questions remain about the motives of the extremists. The full picture of the formation of this extremist force and the objectives behind their heinous crimes may take time. However, they have succeeded in creating a spectacle of death, […]

Charlie Winter /Aymenn al-Tamimi. Image: Funeral banners hang across the street in front of St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, Sri Lanka.ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA / REUTERS. Two days after the bombings in Sri Lanka, the Islamic State came out and said it was behind them. It backed up its claim with video evidence that showed the attackers gathering […]

On 26th April the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communal and Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka launched the Diyawanna Declaration outlining 24 key steps to achieve permanent security and peace. Rreligious leaders and experts have provided  contributed to  formulating the declaration.          

Image: The eight men the Islamic State group says carried out the attacks, as shown in this video grab from the group’s propaganda agency Amaq (AFP Photo/HO) On December 26 last year, scores of Buddhist statues in Mawanella were vandalized. A Criminal Investigation Department (CID)investigation led to the arrest of seven suspects, including one who was […]

Image: After Easter Sunday attacks,  Negambo church. (c) Reuters. The carnage on Easter Sunday against three Christian churches, three leading hotels and two other locations have killed more than 300 and injured over 500.  The scale and coordinated nature of the bomb attacks have been shocking.  This brings an end to the ten year period […]

 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: 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 […]

 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 […]

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 […]

(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 […]

During the past few weeks, I have been watching the many headlines, debates, misinformation, misrepresentation of facts as well as self-congratulatory statements by some members of the delegation that went to Geneva to participate in the 40th session of the Human Rights Council where the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet presented the Report […]

Image: Sri Lanka Ambassador to Geneva A.L.A. Azeez speaking at HRc 40. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera says Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Geneva A.L.A. Azeez had only followed instructions issued from Colombo when he signed the co-sponsorship form of the Resolution on Sri Lanka. He said that the decision to request for a technical/procedural rollover this year […]

The Hybrid Court could be constituted following the example of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) under the Chairmanship of Justice Bhagavathy, former Northern Province Chief Minister and former Supreme Court Judge C.V. Wigneswaran said. “Having already granted nearly four years by Resolutions Numbers 30/1 and 34/1, the granting of a further two […]

By N Sathiya Moorthy. By declaring that he was confident of winning the presidential elections later this year, Gota Rajapaksa has said that he wants to become what he claims the people are tired of – namely, ‘mainstream politicians’. Better or worse still, Gota’s brother Basil R has welcomed the other’s decision to contest the […]

Image: Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative in Geneva Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez . President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday stressed that he would not implement any decisions that would violate the country’s Constitution and independence at the whims and fancies of the international community or any other persons. The President commenting on UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet’s proposal to […]

Sri Lanka’s non-compliance later had forced the UN rights body resolutions. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that Sri Lanka preserved its sovereignty by not agreeing to set up an office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the country even as main Tamil party TNA called for allowing foreign judges and prosecutors […]

Image: Section of the war victims campaigned against another resolution on Sri Lanka ( Tweeter photo) The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) acknowledges the passing of the resolution ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ (40/1) at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and thank all those who worked towards it, particularly the thirty-two […]

Human Rights Council Fortieth session 25 February–22 March 2019 Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka Albania,* Australia, Austria, Belgium,* Bulgaria, Canada,* Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland,* France,* Georgia,* Germany,* Greece,* Iceland, Ireland,* Italy, Luxembourg,* Malta,* Montenegro,* Netherlands,* New Zealand,* North Macedonia,* Norway,* Poland,* Romania,* San Marino,* Slovakia, Sri Lanka,* Sweden,* United Kingdom of […]

Image: File photo of alt-Sinahala nationalist demo against international involvement  in a justice mechanism. (20/03/ 2019 Geneva) The ICJ today called at the UN for prompt establishment of a judicial accountability mechanism with international involvement, for Sri Lanka.The statement, delivered during an interactive dialogue on the OHCHR report on Sri Lanka at the Human Rights […]

Geneva, March 21 (newsin.asia): The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC): on Thursday through consensus passed a resolution giving the government of Sri Lanka two more years to implement the resolution 30/1 of 2015, ie: until March 2021. After the resolution was adopted the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, said that the passing of the […]

(20 March 2019.)The Human Rights Council this morning held an interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka. Interactive Dialogue on Sri Lanka The Council has before it Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka – Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/40/23) Presentation of […]

Image: Sri Lanka delegation at HRC 40. The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. Human Rights Council, 40th Regular Session. Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka’, Statement by Hon. Tilak Marapana, PC., MP, Minister of Foreign […]

By Mangala Samaraweera. In his statement, as usual aimed at hoodwinking the masses, he assumes a commanding and almost martial tone. Packing it with misinformation to mislead the public, he seems to forget the small detail that he is no longer the President or even the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka – fake or otherwise. […]