Analysts fear three experts’ advice may end like IIEGP By Easwaran Rutnam   The Government announcement last week that the mandate of the Presidential Commission on missing persons had been expanded to investigate civilian deaths during the war and the appointment of three internationally acclaimed experts to advice the commission came as a surprise to many. Some fear if the advice of the three prominent experts are highly critical then they may just end up in the bin like the International Independent Eminent Group of Persons (IIEGP) in 2008. IIEGP, which was appointed by the Government, had terminated their observations from the Presidential Commission of Inquiry owing to what it said was the lack of political will on the part of the Government to support […]

By Tisaranee Gunasekara – “There is…..no worse crime than hatred.” – The Buddha (Dhammapada) Thirty one years ago, Sinhala mobs attacked all Tamils everywhere in Sri Lanka because some Tamil militants killed 13 Sinhala soldiers in Jaffna. One month ago Sinhala-Buddhist mobs targeted all Muslims in Aluthgama, Beruwala and surrounding areas because three Muslim youths reportedly assaulted a Buddhist monk and his driver. The ‘Four Four Bravo Operation’ which killed 13 Sinhala soldiers actually happened. There are conflicting reports about the alleged assault on the monk. But ‘They attacked a monk’ was the slogan of the mob as well as the post-facto justification peddled by everyone, Gotabaya Rajapaksa downwards. Therefore let us assume that the monk was actually assaulted by three Muslims youths. Even by the totally anti-Buddhist logic of ‘an-eye-for-an-eye’, […]

A group of senior legal practitioners in Sri Lanka – the Lawyers’ Collective has heavily criticized the notice that has been issued by the Director General of the External Resources Department (ERD) ‘advising’ the public on the ‘legitimate’ activities of the NGOs, describing its contents as ‘misleading’ and in dire need of clarification. The Collective’s representatives – Lal Wijenayake , Chandrapala Kumarage and JC Weliamuna have remarked the notice is yet another ‘intimidatory tactic of the government, manipulated outside the legal framework to create suspicions in the minds of the public’ on the activities of NGOs that promote democracy and seeks to uplift socio-economic status of the masses. They have also raised alarm at the notice, asserting that it is another step in the government’s systematic plan to take control of civil society […]

Chennai: The Sri Lankan civil war which claimed more than 100,000 lives over a quarter of a century officially ended in 2009. However, Tamil refugee advocates in India claim that ongoing reprisals by Sri Lankan security forces against Tamil activists is prompting many to continue to seek asylum in countries such as India and Australia. The closest safe haven to Sri Lanka is the south-east Indian state of Tamil Nadu where about 67,000 Sri Lankan Tamil registered refugees are housed in 110 refugee camps spread across 25 districts, with as many as 17,000 children born to Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu considered stateless. It is estimated that another 35,000 Tamil refugees are living in Tamil Nadu illegally in areas outside the camps which are strictly […]