Sondra Anton, student attorney at the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, addressed the United States House of Representatives Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights yesterday, as it held a hearing on 'Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka'. See the full text of her address and video footage of the event below.

"இடைவந்த சாதி எனும் இடர்ஒழிந்தால் ஆள்பவள்நம் தாய் தாய் தாயே!" - Bharatidasan. Four years ago, the Everglades swamp in Florida was hounded by a specific variety of snakes not autochthonous to its land. Following repeated failures to curb the exploits of the reptiles, the authorities flew in a few men from a community known as Irulas, supposedly experts in snake-catching, from a remote part of South Asia to assist them. They worked wonders. The Western media rejoiced at the mysterious ability of these tribal men to track the trails of snakes. “The Irula are world-renowned for their snake-...

Writing in the Diplomat, Madura Rasaratnam and Mario Arulthas, maintain that the current policy of appeasement, and of soft-pedalling on demands for "accountability and political reform", adopted by the US and India "comes with considerable costs and uncertain gains". Instead of attempts to outbid China, they argue that it is necessary to use "soft" leverage to "give Sinhala leaders a reality check and push for measures that are crucial to securing stability and preventing conflict recurrence". "The United States and India do have tools at their disposal that can be used to advance strategic...

Last month, Former Commissioner, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Ambika Satkunanathan addressed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at an event entitled "Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights: Striking the Right Balance".