Jul 22, 2021
Here we look at some of the key developments in human rights, justice, and accountability in Sri Lanka over the month of June. Bail for Shani Abeysekara Shani Abeysekara, the former director of the Criminal Investigation Department, who was arrested in late July 2020...
Jul 7, 2021
Edward Mortimer, who recently passed away at the age of 77, was integral to the creation of the Sri Lanka Campaign, playing a key role in the campaigning activity that took place in the aftermath of the civil war in 2009 and serving as the organisation’s first chair...
May 18, 2021
May 18 marks the end of the Sri Lankan civil war. On this day we remember the many civilians who were killed at Mullivaikkal in the final stages of the war. In the final months of the war, tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed, the majority by deliberate...
May 14, 2021
On the first anniversary of the arrest of poet Ahnaf Jazeem, we call on the Sri Lankan authorities to end their problematic investigation and immediately release him. We also call for the immediate repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, a draconian law which...
Apr 14, 2021
On 14 April 2020, prominent human rights lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah was arrested by Sri Lankan security forces under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for alleged involvement in the tragic Easter Sunday bombings in 2019. Hejaaz has been denied unrestricted...
Apr 13, 2021
Next week, more than 200 Sri Lankan troops will be deployed to a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali. We want to stop that from happening, and ask for your help to ensure that it doesn’t. Why? Because in 2019, the UN itself announced it was suspending deployment of Sri...
Mar 23, 2021
On Thursday 18 March, the UK parliament held a debate in the House of Commons discussing “UK commitments to reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.” Twenty two MPs took part in the debate, with over half of them calling for the UK to designate...
Mar 19, 2021
The Human Rights Council (HRC) has now been in session for four weeks with discussions on human rights around the world. As we explored in a previous blog post, the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights offered a strong starting point for discussions on Sri...
Mar 5, 2021
The government of Sri Lanka is dominated by the family of the president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. By occupying 9 ministerial roles, including 7 out of 30 positions on the cabinet, the Rajapaksa family controls nearly a quarter of Sri Lanka’s state budget. In the midst of a...
Feb 24, 2021
As the Human Rights Council opens its 46th session, member states have the opportunity to shape and vote on a new resolution on justice and accountability in Sri Lanka. In January, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a damning report...
