1 Validity of LTTE's Use of Force to Secure to the Tamil People Their
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Justice Delayed, Justice Denied? the Search for Accountability for Alleged Wartime Atrocities Committed in Sri Lanka
Pace International Law Review Volume 33 Issue 2 Spring 2021 Article 3 May 2021 Justice Delayed, Justice Denied? The Search for Accountability for Alleged Wartime Atrocities Committed in Sri Lanka Aloka Wanigasuriya University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pilr Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, International Humanitarian Law Commons, International Law Commons, Law and Politics Commons, and the Military, War, and Peace Commons Recommended Citation Aloka Wanigasuriya, Justice Delayed, Justice Denied? The Search for Accountability for Alleged Wartime Atrocities Committed in Sri Lanka, 33 Pace Int'l L. Rev. 219 (2021) Available at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pilr/vol33/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pace International Law Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact [email protected]. JUSTICE DELAYED, JUSTICE DENIED? THE SEARCH FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALLEGED WARTIME ATROCITIES COMMITTED IN SRI LANKA Aloka Wanigasuriya* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction .......................................................................... 221 II. National Action ..................................................................... 223 A. National Mechanisms............................................... 223 1. Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) .............................................................. -
A Survey of Human Rights 2013
Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights 2013 www.HAFsite.org June 5, 2013 © Hindu American Foundation 2013 “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 1 “One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Yielding to desire and acting differently, one becomes guilty of adharma.” Mahabharata XII: 113, 8 “Thus, trampling on every privilege and everything in us that works for privilege, let us work for that knowledge which will bring the feeling of sameness towards all mankind.” Swami Vivekananda, “The Complete works of Swam Vivekananda,” Vol 1, p. 429 "All men are brothers; no one is big, no one is small. All are equal." Rig Veda, 5:60:5 © Hindu American Foundation 2013 © Hindu American Foundation 2013 Endorsements of Hindu American Foundation's Seventh Annual Report Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights 2010 "As the founder and former co---chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, I know that the work of the Hindu American Foundation is vital to chronicle the international human rights of Hindus every year. The 2010 report provides important information to members of Congress, and I look forward to continuing to work with HAF to improve the human rights of Hindus around the world." U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) "As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism and the co---chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, I applaud the hard work of the Hindu American Foundation in producing their annual Human Rights Report. -
Briefing Notes | Issue No 05 – 25 February 2013 Briefing Notes Briefing Notes
Sri Lanka Briefing Notes | Issue No 05 – 25 February 2013 Briefing Notes Briefing Notes Sri Lanka Briefing Notes | Issue No 05 – 25 February 2013 In mid-January 2013, flooding had caused human remains and abandoned belongings to come to the surface in what have been deemed ‘Sri Lanka’s killing fields’. Photo: The Sri Lanka Campaign. THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE NORTH OF SRI LANKA 2012 1 Briefing Notes Sri Lanka Briefing Notes | Issue No 05 – 25 February 2013 CONTENTS Executive Summary . page 3 1. The political solution: Words but not deeds . page 4 2. Freedom of Expression: Recent violations . page 5 3. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Protest: Recent violations . page 6 4. Arrests and harassment of ex-detainees . page 9 5. Restrictions on grieving and remembering . page 10 6. Continuing disappearances, killings, torture, arrests and detention page 11 7. Militarization. page 12 8. Land grabbing and colonization . page 17 9. Erasing memories and imposing war culture . page 20 10. Women and children – some salient issues . page 21 11. War tourism . page 23 12. Conclusions . page 25 List of Abbreviations . page 26 Methodology Used . page 27 This dossier was published with the support of the Sri Lanka Advocacy Network, Germany. The report was compiled by the Watchdog team in Sri Lanka and was edited by the Sri Lanka Brief team. For further information, mailto: [email protected] or see http://www.srilankabrief.org/ 2 Sri Lanka Briefing Notes | Issue No 05 – 25 February 2013 Briefing Notes ExecutivE Summary Repression and human rights violations in the Ananada Sangaree ‚‘ (d)uring the past three years, North remained under-reported throughout 2012. -
Unspeakable Truth
This book is dedicated to the Tamils who perished waiting for justice Preface Contents This book traces the poignant history of Tamils in Sri Lanka after independence. It catalogues the Sri Lankan Tamils’ descent from a once thriving vibrant Nation to one Introduction that is today fi ghting for its very survival. This is a story about how a majority population consumed with religious chauvinism can corrupt a democratic process with untold 1. Documented genocide suffered by Tamils in Sri Lanka consequences. 1.1 State-aided Sinhala settlements in the Tamil homeland - Ethnic Cleansing 8 1.2 The Disenfranchisement of Tamils of Indian Origin 10 The book is organised into three sections covering the physical harm suffered by the 1.3 State-sponsored Riots against Tamils 12 Tamil community, the destruction of their cultural heritage and the attempts at negotiating 1.4 The 1983 Pogrom – a Watershed Event 16 a settlement which has come to nothing. The book also strikes a hopeful note at the 1.5 Progress from Pogroms to Aerial Bombings 20 end on how lasting peace can be achieved from the rubble of destruction. 1.6 The Torture and Murder of Civilians to win Submission 22 1.7 Rape as a Means of Suppression 26 The reader is likely to fi nd some images depicting examples of violence diffi cult and is 1.8 The Assassination of Political Leadership and Human Rights Activists 28 left to imagine the suffering endured by not only the victims but also their families and 1.9 Suppression and Violence against the Media 32 communities over the years. -
LTTE's Kattankudi Muslim Muslim Mosque Massacre by LTTE
LTTE's Kattankudi Muslim Muslim Mosque Massacre by LTTE LTTE's Kattankudi Muslim Mosque Massacre (03 August 1990) Terrorism knows no religious sanctity, nor does it care for lives of infants, children, women and clergy. This was once again proved eighteen years ago when tiger terrorists cold-bloodedly butchered 147 Muslim devotees, praying in mosques in the pre- dominantly Muslim town of Kattankudy, Batticaloa in the East. The massacre at Kattankudy that shook the nation and drew worldwide condemnation was meticulously pre-planned and executed in secrecy by tiger terrorists who had disguised themselves as Muslim prayers and entered the Meera Jumma and Husseinia mosques when hundreds of devotees were attending Friday Isha prayers. On 03rd August 1990, gun-carrying Tamil Tiger terrorists swooped on Muslim prayers inside the holy KATTANKUDY mosque and butchered 103 Muslim prayers including over 25 small children. The dastardly mass murder provoked condemnation from the international community. Mosque Massacres Revisited By Peter Cassie-Chitty On Friday August 4, 1990 over three hundred Muslims, men and boys, were prostrate in prayer at the Meera Jumma Mosque, fifty yards from the Kandy Batticaloa Road. None of them were armed. It was seven twenty in the evening and the town of Katankudi was lit up. The prayers went on when there was a power cut throwing the mosque into darkness. A stones throw away from the Meera Jumma is the smaller Hussainya Mosque. There was a smaller gathering of approximately forty people here -- prostrate in prayer too. The power cuut had been effected by the large group of LTTE cadres on their murderous mission. -
(DFAT) Country Information Report on Sri Lanka of 4 November 2019
July 2020 Comments on the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) Country Information Report on Sri Lanka of 4 November 2019 Contents About ARC ................................................................................................................................... 2 Introductory remarks on ARC’s COI methodology ......................................................................... 3 General methodological observations on the DFAT Country report on Sri Lanka ............................ 5 Section-specific observations on the DFAT Country report on Sri Lanka ....................................... 13 Economic Overview, Economic conditions in the north and east ........................................................ 13 Security situation, Security situation in the north and east ................................................................. 14 Race/Nationality; Tamils ....................................................................................................................... 16 Tamils .................................................................................................................................................... 20 Tamils: Monitoring, harassment, arrest and detention ........................................................................ 23 Political Opinion (Actual or Imputed): Political representation of minorities, including ethnic and religious minorities .............................................................................................................................. -
1411202* A/Hrc/25/23
United Nations A/HRC/25/23 General Assembly Distr.: General 24 February 2014 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-fifth session Agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights* Summary In the present report, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledges the progress made in reconstruction and the implementation of some of the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. The Government of Sri Lanka has, however, failed to ensure independent and credible investigations into past violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The report also contains updates on the ongoing attacks on religious minorities, and the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists. The Government has not responded to the offers of technical assistance made by the High Commissioner and the special procedures. Meanwhile, new evidence continues to emerge on the events that took place in the final stages of the armed conflict. Against this background, the High Commissioner recommends the establishment of an independent, international inquiry mechanism, which would contribute to establishing the truth where domestic inquiry mechanisms have failed. * Late submission. GE.14-11202 *1411202* A/HRC/25/23 Contents Paragraphs Page I. Introduction............................................................................................................. 1–2 3 II. Engagement of the Office of the High Commissioner and the special procedures.. 3–11 3 III. Recent human rights developments ....................................................................... -
Uprooting People from the Land Land Grabbing Current Status And
Uprooting People from the Land Land Grabbing Current Status and Trends in Sri Lanka June 2012 Sri Lanka Nature Group People’s Alliance for Right to Land - PARL Land Grabbing Current Status and Trends in Sri Lanka Advisor Thilak Kariyawasam Data Collection Pubudu Weerarathne Rathindra Kuruwita Sajeewa Chamikara Sanjeewa Bandara Pushparajan Somasundaram Data Analysis Sajeewa Chamikara Preparation of Report Sajeewa Chamikara Rathindra Kuruwita Samartha Harischandra Padmi Karandana Special Contribution Hansani Samudrika Samarawickrama Layout and Design Nilakshi Madushani Hasantha Wijethunga Publisher Sri Lanka Nature Group ‐ SLNG 546/3, Wata Mawatha, Gangodawila, Nugegoda. Tel. No. ‐ 011 2803139 E mail ‐ [email protected] People’s Alliance for Right to Land - PARL No. - 10, Malwattha Road, Negombo. E mail - [email protected] Web - www.parlsrilanka.com 2 Sri Lanka Nature Group Land Grabbing ‐ Current Status and Trends in Sri Lanka People’s Alliance for Right to Land Contents Page Preface 1. Abstract 06 2. Introduction 07 2.1 Objectives of the Study 08 2.2 Definitions of land grabbing 08 2.3 Impact on food security, loss of livelihoods, impact on environment 09 2.4 Global Trends and Current Situation 10 2.5 Local Contexts 10 3. Methodology 11 4. Limitations and Challengers of the Study 11 5. Results and Analysis 12 6. Findings 16 7. Conclusions 18 8. Recommendations 19 9. Annexure ‐ I 22 10. Annexure ‐ II 22 11. Annexure ‐ III 23 • Construction of Hotels and Operation of Quarries in Andarawewa Forest Reserve 23 • Grabbing of Land -
An Analysis of Competing Ethnic Politics in Eastern Sri Lanka
E-ISSN 2281-4612 Academic Journal of Vol 8 No 2 ISSN 2281-3993 July 2019 Interdisciplinary Studies . Research Article © 2019 Yusoff et.al.. This is an open access article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Minorities, Territoriality and Politics for Autonomy: An Analysis of Competing Ethnic Politics in Eastern Sri Lanka Mohammad Agus Yusoff Center for Policy and Global Governance, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia Athambawa Sarjoon Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya-20400, Sri Lanka Zawiyah Mohd Zain College of Law, Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia, UUM Sintok 06010, Kedah, Malaysia Doi: 10.2478/ajis-2019-0018 Abstract Regional politics play a decisive role in national politics when region poses ethnic groups in competing manner. Sri Lanka’s Eastern province has been a contested region in terms of ethnic and territorial integration as well as the integration of majority and minorities from the independence of the country, during civil war, and in the post-civil war era. This study explores the ethnic groups’ competition for political control and autonomy, as well as its impact in Eastern Sri Lanka. This study has employed both qualitative and quantitative data, collected mainly through secondary sources such as literary books, book chapters, journal articles, newspaper cuttings, and government documents, which are analyzed and presented through interpretive and descriptive manners. The study has found that the Eastern province has been a contested choice for the ethnic majority to extend their ethnic domination, and to implement ethno-centric development-cum settlement policies and programs, all of which are ultimately induced to change the ethnic composition of the region and pushed ethnic minorities to mobilize and demand for more decentralized power and autonomy in the region. -
Sri Lankan Civil War
Sri Lankan Civil War The Sri Lankan Civil War was an armed conflict of the entire area previously controlled by the Tamil fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on 23 Tigers, including their de facto capital Kilinochchi, main July 1983, there was an intermittent insurgency against military base Mullaitivu and the entire A9 highway,[29] the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ee- leading the LTTE to finally admit defeat on 17 May lam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), an 2009.[30] Following the end of the war, the Sri Lankan independent militant organisation which fought to cre- government claimed Sri Lanka as the first country in the ate an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the modern world to eradicate terrorism on its own soil.[31] north and the east of the island. After a 26-year military Following the LTTE’s defeat, pro-LTTE Tamil National campaign, the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Alliance dropped its demand for a separate state, in Tigers in May 2009, bringing the civil war to an end.[1] favour of a federal solution.[32][33] In May 2010, Mahinda For over 25 years, the war caused significant hardships Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka, appointed the for the population, environment and the economy of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) country, with an initial estimated 80,000–100,000 peo- to assess the conflict between the time of the cease- [18] fire agreement in 2002 and the defeat of the LTTE in ple killed during its course. -
Land-Acquisitions-And-Related-Issues-In-The-North-And-East-Of-Sri-Lanka.Pdf
POLICY BRIEF ! POLITICS, POLICIES AND PRACTICES WITH LAND ACQUISITIONS AND RELATED ISSUES IN THE NORTH AND EAST OF SRI LANKA NOVEMBER 2013 CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES POLICY BRIEF POLITICS, POLICIES AND PRACTICES WITH LAND ACQUISITIONS AND RELATED ISSUES IN THE NORTH AND EAST OF SRI LANKA Bhavani Fonseka & Dharsha Jegatheeswaran Centre for Policy Alternatives November 2013 Politics, Policies And Practices With Land Acquisitions And Related Issues In The North And East Of Sri Lanka The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is an independent, non-partisan organization that focuses primarily on issues of governance and conflict resolution. Formed in 1996 in the firm belief that the vital contribution of civil society to the public policy debate is in need of strengthening, CPA is committed to programmes of research and advocacy through which public policy is critiqued, alternatives identified and disseminated. Address : 24/2 28th Lane, off Flower Road, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka Telephone : +94 (11) 2565304/5/6 Fax : +94 (11) 4714460 Web : www.cpalanka.org, facebook.com/cpasl, twitter.com/cpasl Email : [email protected] Centre for Policy Alternatives | November 2013 2 www.cpalanka.org Politics, Policies And Practices With Land Acquisitions And Related Issues In The North And East Of Sri Lanka Acknowledgements The authors of the policy brief are Bhavani Fonseka and Dharsha Jegatheeswaran. Assistance with finalising the brief was provided by Luwie Ganeshathasan and Thenmozhy Kugamourthy. Formatting of the brief was done by Shilpa Samaratunge and -
State Aided Sinhala Colonisation
Genocide against the Tamil People STATE AIDED SINHALA COLONISATION Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: Article 2 c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part” Introduction Before the armed resistance of the Tamil people took the centre stage, three major processes could be identified aimed at the marginalization and destabilization of the Tamil nation. The first was the state sponsored colonisation schemes, which under the pretext of development, settled depressed peasants and later lumpen elements of the Sinhala nation alongside military garrisons within the traditional homeland of the Tamil people. It was aimed at disrupting the demographics and geographical contiguity of the Traditional homeland of the Tamil people. The colonization process, to a considerable extent, resembled the Israeli state aided settlements which brought pockets of Jewish majority areas and subsequently disrupted the continuity of Palestinian settlements, bringing about the disjuncture of Gaza and the West Bank. Secondly there have been numerous laws and constitutional amendments passed, which legalised and thereby legitimized the structural violence against the Tamil nation. A number of these laws provided the legal justification for atrocities perpetuated against Tamils while strengthening a culture of impunity for crimes orchestrated by the state. (This section will be explained in a separate document.) Thirdly there have been major anti-tamil pogroms orchestrated by the state, mainly in 1956, 1958, 1974, 1977, 1981 and 1983 which saw thousands of Tamil civilians massacred. Besides such pogroms, the Tamil people have been slaughtered or forcibly transferred in order to set the grounds for state enacted colonization schemes.