The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution on Sri Lanka last week, extending the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) for a further two years. This extension will allow the OHCHR to continue gathering and preserving evidence that can be used in future war crime trials. When those trials will be, however, is the question that no one is able to answer. More than 16 years after the genocide at Mullivaikkal, impunity still reigns in Sri Lanka. And the UN has just given Colombo another carte blanche.
The Bishop of Mannar, Gnanapragasam Anthonypillai spoke out against the controversial wind power project on Mannar Island, stating that the decision to establish 14 wind farms was made unilaterally by Colombo despite local opposition.
Farmers in Muthunagar, Trincomalee, have entered the 26th day of their continuous satyagraha protest in front of the Trincomalee District Secretariat, demanding the return of farmlands seized for a Sri Lankan state-backed solar power project.
Protests continued in Jaffna’s Thaiyiddy area on Monday as members of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), local landowners, and residents staged a demonstration against preparations for a state-backed ceremony at the illegally built and controversial Tissa Vihara Buddhist temple.
The Pirambadi massacre in Kokkuvil, where over 60 Tamils were shot dead or crushed with an armoured vehicle by Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF), was remembered in Jaffna today.
Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader and Jaffna parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam has said that no government in the world has been willing to bring the Sri Lankan state before an international court, despite overwhelming evidence of atrocities committed against Tamils.
Today marks 38 years since the death of 2nd Lt. Maalathy, the first female fighter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lose her life in the Tamil armed struggle.
Across the world, the day is being commemorated as Tamil Women’s Day, an opportunity to honour women’s involvement in the fight for Tamil rights.
Sri Lanka’s former Human Rights Commission commissioner warns against signing the Rome Statute, arguing it would expose soldiers already under international travel bans for war crimes to further prosecution.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath has defended the government’s decision not to call for a vote at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the latest resolution concerning the island, while reiterating Colombo’s rejection of international accountability measures long demanded by Tamils.
A Sinhala Buddhist monk has launched a hunger strike in Tangalle demanding the restoration of state security for former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, following the government’s recent decision to scale back protection for former heads of state.
The former president and secretary of the Vedukkunaari Malai Aathi Shivan Temple in Vavuniya have been summoned for questioning by Sri Lanka’s Counter-Terrorism Investigation Division (CTID), raising renewed concerns over state intimidation of Tamil religious leaders.
