A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Monday, January 30, 2017
Sustained Concerns About Torture in Sri Lanka
More concerns about torture and impunity in Sri Lanka.
By Taylor Dibbert-January 28, 2017
Torture remains a major problem in Sri Lanka. A new report from
the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment has reminded us of that. The report
presents a grim picture of systematic torture and the concomitant
impunity which continue to plague the island nation. The report also
lays out a number of thoughtful recommendations and conclusions.
The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has issued a strong press release about the report. Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka has also written about it. Freedom from Torture has weighed in too. The document, however, appears to be receiving little attention in the Sri Lankan press.
“What struck me was his [Juan Méndez’s] description of the collapse of
the very system meant to investigate and prosecute torture in a country
with a backlog of thousands of cases and more people being tortured
daily. What Juan Mendez’s report shows is the huge effort it will take
to tackle the systemic problems of the police, the judiciary, the
security sector and what we are instead getting is box ticking – at
best,” says Yasmin Sooka, ITJP’s executive director. “Singing the
national anthem in Tamil isn’t going to stop the ongoing abductions and
torture. It’s time the denial stops: of course, the violations continue
if you don’t do anything to stop them. The obligation to prevent torture
is that of the state; if they don’t tackle institutional reform and
security sector reform seriously then the international community must
start to put them on terms.”
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Since the ouster of Mahinda Rajapaksa in a January 2015 presidential
election, the international community has heaped significant praise on
the new administration, an uncomfortable power-sharing alliance that’s
led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe.
Two years on, there’s no question that international actors moved far
too quickly to support Colombo, relying on a carrot-heavy approach that
reflected neither the realities on the ground nor the government’s true
intentions regarding its own reform agenda.
Sri Lanka “should set up an independent investigative body with
international support modeled on the [International Commission against
Impunity in Guatemala] CICIG approach,” notes Sooka. “It must be
independent of the Attorney General’s office and the police or it will
fail. Start vetting public officials – as promised in [UN Human Rights
Council] resolution 30/1 – you don’t need a special court to do all
these things. They are already two years behind the curve.”