May 16, 2022
In a turbulent week in Sri Lanka, peaceful protests were attacked, the Prime Minister resigned, the military were deployed to the streets of Colombo, and a new (but old) Prime Minister was appointed. How did we get here? For over a month, thousands of Sri...
Apr 27, 2022
Thursday 5 May, 19:00 – 20:30 Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ As the Sri Lankan civil war was ending in 2009, Ananthy’s husband Elilan, a Tamil Tiger rebel, surrendered to government forces. He has not been seen again. Sri Lanka’s Rebel...
Apr 5, 2022
Over the weekend, Sri Lanka has been rocked by protests, police violence, curfews, and political turmoil. A lot has happened in a short space of time, and the situation is developing rapidly. Whilst the fallout from the economic crisis and the President’s declaration...
Mar 17, 2022
The 49th Human Rights Council has been in session for the past few weeks, discussing a variety of human rights issues from around the globe. On 4 and 7 March, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) presented a summary of a damning new report on...
Mar 4, 2022
by Alan Keenan London School of Economics and Political Science, GCRF Gender, Justice and Security Hub The original version of this essay was delivered as a presentation to a webinar organised by Le Conseil Universel des Droits de L’Homme (UHRC), ‘Undermining...
Feb 10, 2022
On 7 February 2022, after more than 21 months in detention, the Colombo Court of Appeal granted bail to Hejaaz Hizbullah, a prominent human rights lawyer and activist. Hejaaz was initially arrested by Sri Lankan security forces on 14 April 2020 under the draconian...
Dec 21, 2021
As 2021 comes to an end, we have been looking back over some of the key developments in human rights, justice, and accountability in Sri Lanka over the last year. This has been an extremely challenging year in Sri Lanka, as an increasingly militarised, authoritarian,...
Dec 16, 2021
On 3 December 2021, the UN’s expert on Contemporary forms of Slavery, Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata, published the preliminary findings from his recent visit to Sri Lanka. Whilst he acknowledged some of the progress that Sri Lanka had made regarding contemporary...
Dec 10, 2021
Today, on International Human Rights Day, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), announced that Furqan Bangalzai, a former commander of a Pakistani terrorist organisation, would be designated for sanctions under the Global Human Rights Regime....
Dec 3, 2021
Police Scotland will not continue training the Sri Lankan police force, it was announced last week. Chief Constable Iain Livingstone confirmed during a meeting with the Scottish Police Authority on 24 November 2021 that no further deployments to Sri Lanka will be made...
