UNHRC divides over Sri Lanka: Russia, Pakistan and others back Colombo’s ‘sovereignty’

Tamil Affairs Sep 10
At the UN Human Rights Council this week, there was a range of responses from member states over Sri Lanka’s human rights record and the UN’s evidence-gathering mandate, with the EU, UK and several partners reiterating the need for accountability whilst others including Russia, Belarus, Iran, Pakistan, Venezuela and others attacked international scrutiny and urged deference to Colombo’s “domestic processes”.
UN rights chief calls for prosecutions in Sri Lanka but stops short of international mechanism
Tamil Affairs Sep 10
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, where he urged Colombo to take “decisive action” on accountability and reforms but stopped short of calling for a fully international accountability mechanism, despite decades of impunity.
Sri Lanka rejects international justice at UN Human Rights Council
Tamil Affairs Sep 10
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath addressed the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, where he insisted that accountability for mass atrocities would only be pursued through domestic processes, once again rejecting longstanding calls for international accountability for the Tamil genocide.
Rajapaksa forced to hunt for new home as perks for ex-presidents abolished
Tamil Affairs Sep 10
Sri Lanka’s former president and credibly accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa is searching for a new residence in Colombo after parliament voted overwhelmingly to strip former heads of state of their state-funded perks, including official housing.
Skeleton with shattered skull among 240 bodies uncovered at Chemmani mass grave
Tamil Affairs Sep 10

Chemmani grave findings

The second phase of excavations at the Chemmani–Sindhubathi mass grave in Jaffna has concluded, revealing at least 240 human skeletons, including the remains of children, infants, and bodies found in overlapping positions, in one of the island’s largest ever mass graves.

EPDP carried out killings blamed on LTTE, says former member
Tamil Affairs Sep 10
A former member of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) has said the paramilitary group was behind a series of murders across the North-East and Colombo, including those of journalist Atputharajah Nadarajah, attorney-at-law Maheswari, and Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation employee K. S. Raja.
US Congress members express support for independent investigation into Chemmani mass grave
Tamil Affairs Sep 08

US Congress members Raja Krishnamoorthi and Deborah Ross have expressed their support for an independent investigation into the Chemmani mass grave, where 240 skeletal remains have been identified. 

Posting on X, US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, representative for Illinois's 8th Congressional District, said that "justice for the victims and the disappeared demands an independent investigation and real accountability."

New report highlights Sri Lanka's investigative failures in Tamil journalist's murder
Tamil Affairs Sep 08

A new report 'Killing Sri Lankan journalists: The Case of Nimalarajan Mylvaganam' co-authored by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) and REDRESS, highlights the failures of Sri Lanka's police in investigating the 2000 murder of Tamil journalist Nimalarajan Mylvaganam. 

Nimalarajan contributed to the BBC for over six years, as well as the Tamil daily Virakesari and Sinhala weekly Ravaya.

Krishanthi Kumaraswamy remembered in Chemmani
Tamil Affairs Sep 07
Krishanthi Kumaraswamy was remembered at a memorial in Chemmani today.
Remembering Krishanthi Kumaraswamy 29 years on
Tamil Affairs Sep 07

Today marks 29 years since the Chemmani massacre of 1996, in which Sri Lankan soldiers raped and murdered Tamil schoolgirl, Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, and three of her family members that had gone looking for her.

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