• If Sri Lanka really could be good, then why has it been so bad?

    Mar 06

    As Sri Lanka struggles to fend off a critical resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission, international pressure on Sri Lanka is coalescing on three key demands.

    International actors are demanding that Sri Lanka implements reforms to usher in good governance, credibly investigates and prosecutes those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity and finally meets Tamil demands for meaningful self government.

    While the substance of these demands is entirely reasonable and plausible, the presumption that Sri Lanka might somehow meet these expectations is not.

    For if Sri Lanka really was capable of such enlightened behaviour then why has its post independence history been one of relentlessly escalating ethnic antagonism and brutality, culminating in the bloodbath of May 2009? What explains the ongoing militarised repression of the Tamil speaking regions?

    The very need for such overt international insistence on measures that are patently necessary reveals precisely why all such pressure is futile.

  • UN Rapporteur criticises Sri Lanka’s national media
    Speaking at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders sharply criticised Sri Lanka’s national media for campaigning against and endangering human rights defenders on the island.

    Addressing the session, Margaret Sekaggya stated,
  • Ruling party calls for Tamil Bishop’s arrest

    One of the parties of Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition has called for the prosecution of the Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, and 30 other members of the clergy who have signed a letter critical of the government.

  • Tamil NGO delegates intimidated at UN Human Rights Council

    Tamil NGO delegates were subject to intimidation tactics by members of the Sri Lankan delegation reported the news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP), on Thursday.

  • MSF confirm denial of access to war zone

    Médecins Sans Frontières have refuted comments made by Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa that the organisation was allowed access in the final war zone in 2009, stating that despite repeated reuqests, access was denied.

  • UN panel of experts urge UNHRC to take action

    Writing in the New York Times, the panel of experts appointed by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon to examine the final stages of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka - Marzuki Darusman, the former attorney-general of Indonesia, Steven Ratner, a professor of law at the University of Michigan, and Yasmin Sooka, the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa - urged the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council to ens

  • Canadian Lawyers' rights NGO urges action at UNHRC

    Addressing the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada (LRWC), an NGO that advocates the rights of human rights activists internationally, highlighted Sri Lanka's failure to make meaningful progress on peace and reconciliation, whilst increasing its intimidation and harrassment of those campaigning for human rights.

  • US says 'time slipping away' for Sri Lanka

    The US Under Secretary of State, Maria Otero, warned Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of the LLRC without delay.

    Speaking at the 19th UN Human Rights Session on Friday, Otero said that there can be no lasting peace without reconciliaton and accountability.

  • Jaffna uni students call on TNA to represent the people

    Condemning the TNA's boycott of the 19th UN Human Rights Council session currently underway in Geneva, the Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU), called on the TNA to represent the views of the people they were elected to represent.

    In a statement published Thursday, the JUSU urged the TNA to bring the aspirations of the Tamils to a global forum.

  • Reporters Sans Frontières urge UNHRC to condemn violation of press freedom

    Reporters San Frontieres called on member states at the 19th UN Human Rights Council to pass a resolution condemning the Sri Lankan government's "violations of freedom of information and to demand an end to threats and violence against news media and human rights defenders in Sri Lanka".

    In a statement released Tuesday, RSF condemned the Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS) on Tamilnet.com, as well as a number of Sri Lankan news organisations.

    RSF said:

    “For more than a year we have been seeing new forms of censorship and a deterioration in journalists’ ability to work although the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officially ended in 2009,”

    “Rather than wait until the Universal Periodic Review to make recommendations, the Human Rights Council’s members should adopt a resolution now urging the government to take measures to improve freedom of information.

  • ‘Shocking allegations’ says US judge

    A US judge, ruled she ‘must dismiss’ a suit against the Sri Lankan President over allegations of killings by his country’s armed forces as the American administration has decided that he is immune from litigation as a foreign head of state.

  • ICG warns of 'future violence' if Sri Lanka does not improve

    The International Crisis Group (ICG) warned that the current ground situation in Sri Lanka could result in "future violence", and the UN Human Rights Council had a chance to do something about that.

  • Tamilnet website cyber-attacked ahead of 19th UNHRC

    The online site, Tamilnet, was out of service at the weekend after experiencing effective cyber-attacks, ahead of the 19th UN Human Rights Council session.

    In a statement, published Monday, Tamilnet's editorial board, said,

  • Sri Lankans protest against UNHRC resolution
    Rallying behind the Sri Lankan government's call to arms against accountability for mass atrocities against Tamils, protests took place Monday as the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council began. 
     
    In the weeks leading upto the session, government ministers have publicly denounced the "western plot". 
     
    Speaking today, member of parliament for Badulla district and former deputy minister of justice, Dilan Perera told reporters, 
     
  • UK urges Sri Lanka to implement LLRC recommendations - UNHRC
    Speaking at the opening session of the 19th session of the UN human rights council, UK minister of state, foreign and commonwealth office, Jeremy Browne pledged the UK's commitment to working against the violation of human rights, and urged Sri lanka to implement the recommendation made in the LLRC. 
     
    "Where states fail, institutions of the UN should act to make change," said Browne. 
     
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