Witnesses and victims in Sri Lanka cannot rely on the state for protection, a report by the International Truth and Justice Project has found. In the report ‘Putting the Wolf to Guard the Sheep’, ITJPSL underline that the Sri Lankan government has made three concerning appointments to a witness protection body, including alleged perpetrators of torture. “Appointing figures to a witness protection body who could one day find themselves on trial for serious crimes like torture, is akin to putting wolves to guard the sheep. This raises serious concerns about the good faith of the Government to...
The Pilakudiyirippu (Pilavu) protest for land return enters its third week. With each morning that breaks at their base outside a Sri Lankan air force camp, the protestors reaffirm their resolve.
The former paramilitary leader who has been accused of war crimes, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (alias Karuna Amman) on Saturday launched a new political party in Batticaloa - 'Tamil United Freedom Party'. Spaking at the launch, Karuna who was previously a deputy minister under the previous government, said the party would be based in Batticaloa and would have branches across the North-East.
Family members of disappeared Tamils rejected the government’s offer to set up a special inquiry to investigate the fate of just their missing relatives, rather than providing an acceptable solution to the 32,000 missing. "We came to get collective justice for thousands of our people who have gone missing, not only for our sake," said one family member. The representatives that attended the meeting in Colombo were family members of the disappeared that ended a four-day hunger strike once given assurance by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he would meet them with the Attorney General...
Following a recent evaluation by the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice – indicating that the Sri Lankan government has largely failed to implement Resolution 30/1, the organisation called on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) pass a robust follow-up resolution. UNHRC Resolution 30/1 called for the implementation of a credible process towards accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. “A breakdown of the resolution text into 25 specific commitments reveals that the government of Sri Lanka has lived up to its word on a mere three of its pledges. Seventeen remain largely or wholly...
A Sri Lankan solider was arrested this week after villagers in Uttuppulam, Kilinochchi accused him of sexually abusing a young Tamil woman. The soldier, who has not been identified, was deployed to the village to collect family details from each household, when he is said to have met the woman who lived at home with her parent who suffered with mental health difficulties. Villagers report the soldier would regularly frequent the house at night time. When questioned by the villagers as to his actions, he reportedly replied back angrily that he loved the woman and he would marry her. The...
Villagers gathered in Muttur today to mark 21 years since the Kumarapuram massacre, where 24 Tamil villagers were killed by a group of Sri Lankan soldiers. Tamils placed flowers on portraits of the victims, which included several women and children. Two young girls were also raped before they were killed in the massacre. Though six former Sri Lankan army corporals went on trial for the killings last year, they were all acquitted of the 101 indictments they each faced. Survivors of the massacre identified the soldiers, who reportedly screamed "Death to the Tamils", as they drunkenly proceeded...
The Tamil People’s Council reiterated its calls for transparency in the constitution making process, and the resultant formation of a sovereign institution of self-governance which recognised the Tamil people in the North and East as a distinct nation, whilst acknowledging their right to self-determination. In a declaration made at the second ‘Ezhuka Tamil’ gathering, which saw thousands of Tamils march through the streets of Batticaloa, the TPC said, “Our demand is that the proposed constitution reflect the political aspirations of the Tamil people. Our intention is not to disrupt the...
Thousands attended the Batticaloa Ezhuka Tamil - 'Rise Tamil' rally on Friday morning, calling for the promotion of Tamil rights and recognition of Tamil nationhood, as well as to address ongoing violations against Tamils by the Sri Lankan state. The event was organised by the Tamil People's Council, in collaboration with several civil society groups in the East, following-up from the Ezhuka Tamil rally in Jaffna which took place in September 2016.
Sri Lanka’s foreign minister said his government would not allow foreign judges to hear cases in an accountability mechanism for human rights abuses committed during the final stages of the armed conflict, in which tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed. Mangala Samaraweera said his government was in “no great hurry” to devise an accountability mechanism to try those accused of war crimes, but was clear on the level of foreign participation Colombo would allow. “We are not against foreign participation, but having foreign judges would need an amendment of the law on the judiciary,”...