War crimes

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Image: The accused will be produced t  the State Security Senate of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Stuttgart.Photo: Lichtgut / Max Kovalenko. (SLB) A Tamil man, who was  member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam  will be charged in Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Stuttgart, Germany  for the participation in the killing of former Sri Lankan Foreign […]

COLOMBO (Reuters) – The United Nations suspended Sri Lankan Army deployments in the world body’s peacekeeping operations after the Indian Ocean island nation appointed a war veteran who has been accused of serious human rights violations, an official said on Wednesday. Sri Lanka’s president in August appointed war veteran Shavendra Silva as its army chief, […]

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 […]