For almost a decade, Tamil victims have looked to the UN Human Rights Council in their pursuit of justice. However, after years of resolutions followed by an extension, alongside lack of any progress on accountability, events at Geneva this week brought another deep disappointment.
Tamil News
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Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary accused of leading a military offensive that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, may run as a candidate in this year’s presidential elections, reports The Hindu.
Political sources reportedly told The Hindu that Gotabaya “is very likely" to represent his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa’s, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
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Amnesty International said Sri Lanka has been “backtracking on accountability” and warned that victims groups had become disillusioned in the transitional justice process given Colombo’s failure to meet commitments made to the UN Human Rights Council.
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Eleven Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested yesterday by Sri Lankan navy personnel for allegedly poaching fish.
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The long running campaign by families of the disappeared across the Tamil homeland was highlighted in a moving photo exhibition, 'Album of Persecution: Justice, Despair, Tears', in Jaffna last week. -
A Sri Lankan army official was arrested last Saturday over being in possession of drugs for supply.
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Six key Tamil diaspora organisations said they were disappointed by the failure to secure a time bound pathway of implementation of Sri Lanka's co-sponsored UN Human Rights Council resolution, ensuring accelerated progress.
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Students at the University of Jaffna joined families of the disappeared last Saturday to demand Sri Lanka be referred to the International Criminal Court for committing a genocide against the Tamil people.
Students condemned the UN Human Rights Council's decision to grant an...
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Two men have been arrested on Sunday over the robbery which took place at the home of a prominent Mullaitivu journalist, Kumanan.
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Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliament M A Sumanthiran warned that unless Sri Lanka agrees to include international judges in a accountability mechanism, his party would "take steps to move Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court".
Speaking to Sri Lanka’s parliament earlier today, Sumanthiran said "the state of Sri Lanka cannot be an independent arbiter".
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The leader of the Tamil National Peoples’ Front (TNPF) called for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or the setting up of an ad hoc international criminal tribunal, in order to to obtain justice for Tamil victims, in an address to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this week.
Gajen Ponnambalam said that the OISL report had found “a domestic accountability mechanism would not suffice due to the lack of capacity owing to the distortion and corruption...
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Several international NGOs have criticised Sri Lanka’s unwillingness to hold war criminals to account through an accountability mechanism with international involvement, as a resolution was passed giving the government two more years to do so this week.
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Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department yesterday said the navy hierarchy, including Navy Commander Jayantha Perera and Intelligence Division Director Ananda Guruge knew about the abductions that occurred in Colombo during 2008 - 2009.
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Tamils in Australia expressed disappointment over the UN Human Rights Council's decision to grant Sri Lanka a two year extension to implement resolution 30/1, and called for alternate avenues to be explored, including referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
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The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a new resolution on Sri Lanka, granting it a further two years to implement a previous resolution from 2015 that mandates a hybrid accountability mechanism.
Resolution L.1 was adopted at the council in Geneva earlier today without a vote, after Sri Lanka announced it would be co-sponsoring it.
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A mother of two children was found stabbed to death in Vavuniya yesterday.
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Two police officers were arrested in Vavuniya on March 19, following the earlier arrest of five men two days prior for treasure hunting near the Poompukar Crematorium in Vavuniya.
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The UN human rights chief called on Sri Lanka to ensure “consistent, comprehensive and accelerated” implementation of a resolution on accountability in an address to the Human Rights Council today, where she urged Colombo to hold perpetrators of crimes to account.
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Thanking the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for her report, India said it looked forward to "the implementation of its other important commitments made to the international community, including the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka."
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Member states urged the UN Human Rights Council to ensure justice is delivered on in Sri Lanka through a time-bound strategy during today's interactive dialogue on the report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, with Canada reiterating the call for international judges.
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Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) called on members of the international community to exercise universal jurisdiction “to...
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The US State Department released its 2018 report on the human rights this month, raising ongoing concerns in Sri Lanka of impunity, arbitrary detention, unlawful killings, torture, sexual abuse and media intimidation.
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Families of the disappeared across the Eastern Province gathered in Batticaloa today to demand justice and for Sri Lanka to the be referred to the International Criminal Court.
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Sri Lanka’s president said that his government would be marking May 2019 as the “10th anniversary of dawn [of] peace”, at a time when Tamils around the world will be commemorating the tens of thousands massacred by Sri Lankan security forces.
Maithripala Sirisena told an audience of Sri Lankans in Kenya that “a special event will be held in May to...
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Amnesty International has released a report detailing Sri Lanka’s failure to meet its commitments and has called on the international community to reaffirm resolution 30/1, as well as continuing to monitor Sri Lanka’s progression.
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A total of seven police officers, including two subinspectors, two police sergeants, two constables and a police driver have been arrested over the abduction and murder of two businessmen from Rathgama in January. A forest ranger from Walasmulla forest reserve has also been arrested in connection with the murders.
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Sri Lanka's opposition leader and former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Saturday the country should not co-sponsor a UN Human Rights Council resolution currently being tabled in Geneva.
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The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) met with Sri Lanka’s Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) last week, to discuss power devolution and abolishing the executive presidency, in a move that marks formal dialogue between the two parties.
The Hindu reported TNA parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran as stating “all parties are agreeable on going ahead with devolution” and called on the JVP to continue to support a new constitution for the island.
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After a series of delays, China’s Exim Bank has approved a $1 billion loan to Sri Lanka as part of Colombo’s Central Expressway project.
However, delays in approving the loan have reportedly cost Sri Lanka an extra Rs 12 billion, which factors in the rising cost of building materials and currency fluctuations.
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The World Bank has approved $70 million worth of credit to support “local economic activities and livelihoods” of those living in the North-East and Uva Provinces in Sri Lanka.
The project is to support local economic activity, sanitation and infrastructure within these poorer provinces, through establishment and renovations of “roads, drains, water supply, minor irrigation, IT connectivity, and rural electrification”.
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British parliamentarians reiterated their commitment to working towards justice for the genocide committed against the Tamil people, at an event in parliament last week.
Conservative parliamentarian Robert Halfon said he would “continue the fight for justice for the Tamil people,” speaking at the event organised...
World News
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The UN has reported over 130 people have been killed in an attack on a Fulani, also known as Peulh, village, Ogossagou in central Mali on Saturday.
Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement, "The Secretary-General is shocked and outraged by reports that at least 134 civilians, including women and children, have been killed”.
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President Donald Trump announced on Twitter a reversal of decades-long US foreign policy by recognising Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.
“After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!”, he tweeted.
Trump’s remarks have provoked an international backlash.
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US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared a military victory today over ISIS in Syria, raising victory flags in Baghuz, the last stronghold of ISIS.
ISIS had held out against the SDF in Baghuz for several months but after weeks of intense fighting, the so-called “caliphate” has been eliminated.
The UK’s foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, tweeted that the liberation of Baghuz was a “historic achievement.”
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Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has reported his chief of staff, Roberto Marrero, was detained by the security officials during a pre-dawn raid on Thursday.
On twitter, Guaido posted "They have kidnapped @Robertomarrero, my chief of staff”. He further detailed that the Caracas residences of Marrero and opposition legislator Sergio Vergara had been raided before dawn.
In a televised broadcast Maduro said authorities were in the process of “dismembering the whole...
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Cyclone Idai has caused a full scale of devastation across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe with winds of more than 177km/h. The powerful cyclone first hit Beira city, Mozambique on Thursday which triggered torrential rain and flash flooding in Malawi and Zimbabwe.
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The Philippines officially withdrew from the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sunday, a year after announcing that it was quitting the court.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to leave the body came after ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced in February 2018 that her office would examine the spate of extrajudicial killings that have taken place in the Philippines since Duterte came into power in 2016.
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Tens of thousands of Catalan independence supporters marched through Madrid on Saturday amid a heavy police presence, to support 12 politicians and activists standing trial for staging a banned referendum in 2017.
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US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has stated the US will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court (ICC) personnel involved in the investigation of possible war crimes committed by US forces and its allies in Afghanistan, and warned the move may go further.
Pompeo claimed the "ICC is attacking America’s rule of law,” and threatened to adopt economic sanctions if the court "does not change its course”. The Secretary of State also warned ICC officials involved in probes of...
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Political leaders from across the world have sent their condolences and condemned a mass shooting in New Zealand on Friday that has left at least 49 people dead.
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President Felix Tshisekedi has pardoned around 700 political prisoners who were jailed under his predecessor, fulfilling a promise he made in his first 100 days in office.
Tshisekedi, who was an opposition leader, won the 2018 election, marking the DRC’s first peaceful transfer of power since its independence from Belgium in 1960.
Earlier this month, he promised to promote justice and fight corruption in Congo. He also said that he would work to ensure the conditions to allow...
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The UN has verified the deaths of 530 Banunu civilians who were slain by Batende villagers in the Democratic Republic of Congo in December, in an attack that was carried out over three days in four villages in the west of the country, stating that it may amount to crimes against humanity.
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A militant organisation based in West Belfast has claimed responsibility for recent letter bombs sent to buildings in London and the University of Glasgow. British police have reported the group claimed to be operating on behalf of the IRA.
The incident comes as the Brexit debate on the Irish backstop has fuelled calls for Irish reunification.
Last month Sinn Féin said a no-deal Brexit would inevitably lead to a vote on the independence of Northern Ireland from the UK and the...
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There has been some progression is charging perpetrators of war crimes in Syria, Catherine Marchi-Uhel, head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) told reporters this week.
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Calls for the current Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley, to resign have continued today following her remarks this week stating that killings by British soldiers during the Troubles were not a real crime, but were the actions of people “fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way”.
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The US State Department has imposed sanctions on six security officials within Nichola Maduro’s government who were associated with obstructing “the entry of international aid” and threatening “violence against those who attempted to deliver this assistance”.
The State Department further maintained its support for Juan Guaido, the partially recognised interim president of Venezuela.
Maduro's supporters have condemned US offer of humanitarian aid however, as a cover for regime...
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The US State Department this month issued a statement maintaining the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK’s) designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
"Today’s actions notify the U.S. public and the international community that the PKK remains a terrorist organization. In addition to its continued status as an FTO, the PKK has also been designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224 since 2001," the State Department said in its statement. ...
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The United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry concluded Israeli troops may have committed war crimes during the Gaza protests dubbed as the “Great March of Return”.
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A delegation of Namibian lawmakers are currently in Berlin pushing the German government to reconcile with a genocide it committed against the Nama and Herero people (also known as Ovaherero) people of Namibia over a 100 years ago.
The lawmakers hope to reach a resolution with the German government based on the 1989 parliament resolution which stated it would accept historical and political responsibility for Namibia.
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Tens of thousands took to the streets of France last week to protest recent anti-Semitic attacks, denouncing hate crimes with placards “fraternity” and “exit hatred”.
France which is home to the biggest Jewish population in Europe has recently seen a rise in anti-Jewish attacks. The French government said that anti-Semitism is “spreading like poison” in France.
The most recent attack occurred on Monday when a Jewish cemetery in Quatzenheim in Alsace was targeted overnight....
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Pakistan has claimed responsibility for shooting down two Indian air force jets and is holding an Indian pilot in custody.
The attack follows escalating tensions between the two nations. On February 14, the Pakistan based militant organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) conducted a suicide attack which killed 40 Indian security personnel in the Indian controlled region of Kashmir. In response, the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted a targeted air strike on a militant camp near Balakot in...
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The United Kingdom last week added the political wing of Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organisations, meaning that those found to either be a member of or supporter of Hezbollah will face criminal prosecution with up to ten years in prison.
The move is a shift from Britain’s previous policy, under which the military wing was criminalised following a ban on the military wing which came into force in 2008, but diplomats would negotiate with political members.
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The United Nations’ highest court has ruled the British occupation of the Chagos Islands is illegal, in what has been described as a humiliating blow to the UK’s prestige on the world stage.
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A UN panel of experts is demanding an inquiry into allegations of police violence, unlawful arrests and torture in Indonesia after a video was released showing police interrogating a young West Papua boy with a snake.
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A number of prominent Indian rights activists have withdrawn support from Amnesty International over allegations of caste-based discrimination and harassment. These include Dalit rights activists, Radhika Vemula and Chandrasekhar Azad, as well as women’s rights campaigner Mariya Salim who had worked for Amnesty.
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After two days of talks, the warring parties in Yemen have finalised a deal on the first phase of the pullback of forces from the city of Hodeidah.
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Britain’s international relations select committee has published a damning report concluding that the UK’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful and called for some sales to be halted.
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A suicide bombing in Kashmir killed almost 40 Indian policemen on Thursday, with India's prime minister pledging those behind the attack will pay a "very heavy price".
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The UN warned this week grains stored in the Red Sea Mills Silos in western Hodeida is at risk of rotting.
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Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister, has said that the Australian government would reopen its Christmas Island detention centre, after suffering a historic defeat in Parliament over a medical evacuations bill.
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The Cameroon government accuses separatists of setting a hospital on fire and killing four people.
In a press release, the Minister of Communication and government spokesperson Rene Sadi stated, "the fire incident in Kumba District Hospital was committed by close to 20 secessionists rebels”.
Separatists have rejected this assertion, stating on social media that they are "not responsible for the fire incident in the hospital”. They hold the government responsible and further...