Monthly Archives: March 2012

Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga convicted of using child soldiers

International criminal court delivers first verdict in its 10-year history to find rebel militia leader guilty of snatching children
Johannesburg:The international criminal court has delivered the first verdict in its 10-year history, finding a Congolese warlord guilty of recruiting child soldiers.
Thomas Lubanga was convicted of snatching children from the street and turning them into killers. He […]

By | Published on March 15, 2012 at 8:40 am

Sri Lanka unlikely to win friends at United Nations Human Rights Council

Sri Lanka’s argument at the United Nations Human Rights Council is unlikely to win it many friends since it insists that for the purpose of fixing accountability, the
clock started ticking only on December 16, 2011 — the day a committee that probed the root causes of the ethnic problem submitted its report to Parliament.
Sri Lankan […]

By R.K. Radhakrishnan | Published on March 15, 2012 at 8:12 am

Sinhala Only and SWRD: “I never thought I would win”

PERSONAL STORIES
Rohini de Mel’s story of reconciliation and hope
‘I am a Sri Lankan and happen to be born a Sinhalese. Sri Lanka is a heterogeneous nation comprising of a majority 72% Sinhala Buddhists,18% Tamils (of which
1 million are abroad) 8% Muslims and the balance 2% comprising of Malays, Chinese, Parsis & Burghers and others. Although […]

By Rohini de Mel | Published on March 15, 2012 at 8:07 am

Sri Lankan lawyers call for an immediate halt to ongoing abductions

13th March 2012: ‘Lawyers for Democracy’ (LfD) is gravely concerned with the breakdown of law and order and the rising cases of abductions in Sri Lanka. On 11th March 2012 media reported of the failed incident of a ‘white van’ abduction in Kolonnawa/ Wellampitiya where the suspects were subsequently handed to the police by the public. […]

By Lawyers for Democracy | Published on March 15, 2012 at 7:19 am

The Sri Lankan Case: Rhetoric, reality and next steps

The last few weeks have witnessed increased activity by the Government of Sri Lanka inannouncing various measures recently taken and to be taken to strengthen
human rights,peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka including the implementation of some interim andfinal recommendations of its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission(LLRC) issued in September 2010 and November 2011, respectively. […]

By Centre for Policy Alternatives | Published on March 15, 2012 at 7:12 am

Resolution against Sri Lanka: India wants way forward based on accountability says Singh

In a letter to DMK Chief M Karunanidhi, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has emphasised the need for an investigation into human rights violations charges.
The letter dated March 12, 2012 says the Indian government attaches high priority to the safety of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka and has urged the Sri Lankan government to put […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on March 14, 2012 at 4:23 am

Of Abductions, Disappearances and Ransoms

I never saw so many bad hats in my life – Arthur Wellesely –Duke of Wellington-1769-1852 (On seeing the first Reformist Parliament)
The statement quoted at the outset was made by the Duke of Wellington regarding the members of the then British Parliament. I leave it to the readers to decide whether the same statement would hold […]

By Lakshman Indranath Keerthisinghe | Published on March 14, 2012 at 3:40 am

Use conciliatory diplomacy to deal with US-sponsored resolution

The US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka was formally presented to the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva last week. The confidence that the Sri Lankan government had evinced that its diplomacy would
prevail and the resolution would be removed from the agenda did not materialize. However, the draft resolution presented by the […]

By Dr. Jehan Perera | Published on March 14, 2012 at 3:28 am

Sri Lanka’s shameful record on detention without trial

“The security regime that was a hallmark of war continues after the LTTE’s defeat – little has changed” – Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.
Hundreds of people languish in arbitrary, illegal and often incommunicado detention in Sri Lanka, vulnerable to torture and extrajudicial execution, despite the end of the country’s long conflict, Amnesty International said in […]

By Amnesty International | Published on March 14, 2012 at 3:07 am

The American PR Firm Helping Out Bahrain’s Brutal Monarchy

As the country cracks down on peaceful protesters, a company called Qorvis is spinning Washington on their behalf.
Earlier in February , a group of three young Bahrainis arrived in Washington to talk about reform in the small Persian Gulf nation, which has been rocked by Arab Spring protests for the last year. The delegation, including […]

By Staff Correspondent | Published on March 12, 2012 at 10:54 am