War crimes

Image: A solider having a look at (temporary) the memorial wall for the disappeared at OMP on 31 August 2019. © Sunanda Deshapriya Office on Missing Persons (OMP) says the Government has failed to heed the recommendations made by them on Military and Police officers involved in enforced disappearances. According to the Chairperson of the […]

Image: Shavendra Silva, joined the army in 1984 and was its chief of staff from January ( REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte ) GENEVA (27 August 2019) – A group of UN experts expressed serious concern at the appointment of Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva as Sri Lanka’s army chief, and urged the Government to advance long overdue reforms of […]

(24 August 2019, London) The appointment of Shavendra Silva (Silva) as the new Commander of the Sri Lankan army is a deeply troubling development. For the Tamil community, this signals the end of the road for reconciliation efforts from the Sri Lankan Government. For the international community and all those interested in human rights and […]

Major General Shavendra Silva was appointed as the 23rd Commander of the Sri Lanka Army today (19).He received his letter of appointment from President Maithripala Sirisena this morning.Major General Silva joined the Sri Lanka Army as a Cadet Officer in 1984 and held the position of Chief of Staff of Sri Lanka Army prior to […]

Image: Candles are burned at the memorial for slain humanitarian workers from Action Contre La Faim in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, August 11, 2006.  © 2006 Reuters. (New York/HRW) – Sri Lankan authorities have failed to bring to justice those responsible for the execution-style killing of 17 aid workers 13 years ago, Human Right Watch said today. On August 4, […]

The reinstatement of an army intelligence official implicated in attacks on journalists has given rise to serious concerns for the safety of media personnel and witnesses who testified against the officer and his platoon. Army Intelligence Major Prabath Bulathwatte has been back in the spotlight after Army Commander Mahesh Senanayake stunned civil society in a […]

(New York) – Ten years since the end of Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war, the government has failed to provide justice for the conflict’s many victims, Human Rights Watch said today. The conflict ended on May 18, 2009, with the total defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Sri Lankan government pledged to provide […]

Image: Relatives of people who went missing during Sri Lanka’s civil war taking part in a candle light vigil. File   | Photo Credit: Getty images. Meera Srinivasan. Some of the lands of survivors are yet to be released, relatives are still missing and reconciliation is afar. Given a choice between living in a camp for displaced […]

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 […]

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 […]

 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 […]

(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 […]

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main minority Tamil party demanded Friday that foreign judges be included in a special court to investigate war crimes, a day after the UN again granted Colombo more time for a much-delayed probe. Government troops have been accused of killing at least 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians in the final months of the island […]

(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 […]

Image: Sri Lanka Attorney at Law Ameer Faaiz ( on right) made the intervention behalf of IMADR and FI. Thank you, Mr. President. I was here, with you, a year ago, sharing my dismay at the terrible events that were taking place in Sri Lanka, my country, in March 2018. You will recall, violent mobs led […]

New Delhi: India’s desire to give some breathing space to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe found a sympathetic ear in the international community. His government is to be granted a further extension of two years to carry out key pledges on transitional justice and accountability. Just before the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) session ends […]

by Needhiyin Kural’ Krishna. “The day a war hero goes and commits murder, he is no longer a war hero. He is then only a murderer. He has to be brought before Sri Lankan law and given maximum punishment in Sri Lankan courts” – Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando (21 January 2019) While demand for accountability […]

Image: When will Sri Lanka respond to the mothers waiting  for a decade to find answers on their disappeared children? (c) Vikalpa. (Daily Mirror 14′.03 .19) Sri Lanka will not agree to what is written in the UNHRC report and will express its opinion, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tilak Marapana told parliament today. Responding to a […]

Image: Thousands of mothers are still waiting for the answers and justice for their disappeared children. (c)s.deshapriya. (GENEVA, March 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ ) The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), the British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and the US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) today welcomed the UN Office of the High Commissioner’s report to […]

Image: UN Rights Commissioner (UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre) The report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights would give an indication of the forthcoming decision of the UN Human Rights Council with regards to its resolution on Sri Lanka. The report is primarily a fact based one. Almost every assertion made is backed by evidence. […]

It is now three months since the interpretation of our constitution by the Supreme Court of the country was respected by the President and the relevant political leaders, and the constitutional crisis he created was resolved. Yet the country continues to be trapped in problems of critical concern for all of us. The President The […]

11 boys abducted and killed in 2008; 14 naval officers implicated in the crimes, 13 of them arrested and produced before a magistrate. Last Thursday, the 14th suspect in the case, war time Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda won reprieve from arrest in the country’s highest court – probably for the duration of his trial For […]

Are we beginning to see a new trend in Presidential Governance? What exactly will the special Presidential Trio sent to the United Nations Human Rights Council – UNHCR – in Geneva do? Will Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe and Northern Governor Dr. Suren Raghavan, be a rival team to the official Sri Lankan diplomatic […]

Conclusions and recommendations. 61. In 2015, by co-sponsoring Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, the Government of Sri Lanka recognized the need to address the past in order to build a brighter future, grounded in accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law. The lack of decisive steps to that end, and of appropriate […]

(The Island/03.04, 2019,) A delegation consisting of representatives of at least four Tamil political parties is scheduled to head for Geneva to lobby the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for an international mechanism to speed up investigations into alleged human rights violations and accountability issues. The delegation would also request the appointment of a UN […]