Speaking with Tamil Guardian, Sandya Ekneligoda, wife of forcibly disappeared journalist and human rights activist Prageeth Ekneligoda, gave a damning indictment of Sri Lanka’s judiciary maintaining that it is not “free and independent” and could not deliver justice for victims. “Even though, it is supposed to be independent, I have witnessed enough that, always the executive (president) and the parliamentarians (MPs) have influenced the judiciary. So, the judiciary has become ineffective and if the judges are unable to exercise their powers freely and independently”, she told our journalists...
During the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson and MP MA Sumanthiran spoke with Tamil Guardian on a range of topics, including the latest UN resolution, the economy of the Tamil homeland, the need for an ICC referral and current geopolitical tensions between India and China. “He’s holding the seat for the Rajapaksa government” Asked about his views on the Wickremesinghe administration, Sumanthiran noted that whilst he would engage with the administration as he did the last, he remains sceptical about the possibility of progressive reforms. “...
Speaking to Tamil Guardian at the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), representatives of the Tamil families of the disappeared reiterated their lack of confidence in domestic mechanisms such as the Office of the Missing Persons (OMP) and how the Sri Lankan state has been trying to quash their continuous roadside protests.
Speaking to the Tamil Guardian this week at the 51st session of UNHRC, Koorrusuwaahmy Sorrenthiran, the spokesperson for the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), reiterates calls for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal court (ICC) as well as emphasising the need for self-determination for Tamils. Tamils have been calling for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) but “that portion is missing” from the draft resolution that was made public earlier this week. Sorrenthiran noted that the draft resolution talks about Sri Lanka’s financial...
Speaking to the Tamil Guardian at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Jaffna Mayor V Mannivannan called for a "strong" resolution that either refers Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or mandates a special court to investigate Sri Lanka's human rights violations against the Tamil nation. "Many resolutions have been passed on Sri Lanka at this Council but none have been implemented by Sri Lanka. International human rights organisations have also highlighted this," Mannivannan said. The Jaffna Mayor also emphasised that "there is no use in passing further...
Speaking to the Tamil Guardian in New York last week, Tamil civil society leader and human rights activist, Velan Swamigal reiterated his call to the international community and India to support a referendum in Tamil Eelam, so that Tamils on the island could determine their own political future.
Following the release of a new documentary on Tamil politician and human rights activist Ananthy Sasitharan on Al Jazeera Witness last week, she spoke and on how only an international mechanism can deliver justice for enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka and detailed the struggle that she has been through in her journey so far. Sasitharan spoke to the Tamil Guardian on the failure of Sri Lanka’s domestic accountability mechanisms, and on the filmmaker Kannan Arunasalam’s latest documentary, entitled ‘Sri Lanka’s Rebel Wife’. Read her full interview below. At the time of filming, you said that...
Filmmaker Kannan Arunasalam has released his latest documentary, entitled ‘Sri Lanka’s Rebel Wife’, on Al Jazeera Witness this week, following Tamil politician and human rights activist Ananthy Sasitharan, as she continued her fight to seek justice for her forcibly disappeared husband. He spoke to the Tamil Guardian on his experiences of filming the documentary despite military surveillance, the struggle that Tamil families face when trying to find answers for disappearances and on Sasitharan’s continued fearlessness.
“Ever since the 13th Amendment was passed 34 years ago, the Tamils have rejected it in total,” said Tamil parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam as he warned Tamil leaders against voting for a new constitution in Sri Lanka that may include it, labelling the move a “death knell”. Ponnambalam’s party, the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF), has firmly opposed recent moves by other Tamil parties calling on India to ensure the full implementation of the 13th Amendment, in an interview with the Tamil Guardian .
The United States is “not satisfied” with progress in Sri Lanka and is eyeing up a broader involvement in the island’s ethnic turmoil, said Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran, who held a series of high-level meetings in Washington DC, New York, Toronto and London last month. Speaking to the Tamil Guardian in London, the lawmaker said that there had been discussions regarding “greater involvement by the US, broadly speaking, in the Tamil affairs in Sri Lanka”.