Press Resources
Web Links
Here are some of the most up to date and authoritative/balanced sites about this conflict:
Amnesty International is running a powerful and brave campaign to "Unlock the Camps". It's research is meticulous and widely quoted. The video is available in several languages including Sinhala http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/unlock-camps-sri-lanka-20090807
International Crisis Group – this is a well respected non governmental agency that has a long history of working in Sri Lanka: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4459
The Economist – has covered the conflict as well as economic/political developments on a regular basis over several years: http://www.economist.com/countries/srilanka/
The BBC also has a regularly updated site which is well balanced: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1168427.stm
Australian Current Affairs program, Dateline, on SBS TV. Feature on the end of the Sri Lanka/Tamil conflict and the allegations of war crimes from both sides.
Freedom of the press
A detailed list of violations fo Freedom of Expression during 2009 Media Freedom in Sri Lanka
Lack of a free press is a major contributory reason for the crisis and for a good entry into the range of issues involved, see:
http://www.rsf.org/Statement-of-the-International,29148.html
One of the few remaining "points of light" is Transcurrents, a blog which features a wide range of opinions, Sinhalese and Tamil: http://www.transcurrents.com/
Groundviews is similarly positioned: http://www.groundviews.org/
And the most recent is http://unbowedandunafraid.com/ - which has been set up in memory of Lasantha Wickrematunge, the assassinated editor.
Human Rights
Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch has been documenting the deteriorating human rights situation for several years http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/sri-lanka & http://www.hrw.org/en/asia/sri-lanka
A local site which is has been highly critical of both the LTTE and the Government is the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna): http://www.uthr.org/
The regional human rights group – the Asia Human Rights Commission – has regular news and commentary about Sri Lanka: http://www.ahrchk.net/index.php
Additional resources about Sri Lanka
The South Asian Journalist Association list many additional resources http://www.sajaforum.org/resource-covering-sri-lanka.html
TamilNet has an editorial position which is very sympathetic to LTTE but it also often has the best news: http://www.tamilnet.com
http://srilankademocracy.org/ & http://www.dbsjeyaraj.com/ are two sites which feature Tamil opinion critical of the LTTE
The Government of Sri Lanka has a well maintained site: http://www.priu.gov.lk/
The wider context
Sri Lanka is a good example of where the world has ignored what it said it had learnt after Rwanda – namely that it has a "Responsibility to Protect". This is now a highly contentious debate with several countries keen to use Sri Lanka to push back on this agenda: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/
There are several sites about genocide - http://www.genocidewatch.org/ and http://www.preventorprotect.org/
OpenDemocracy has a Sri Lanka focused genocide section: http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/sri-lanka-camps-media-genocide