Category: Statements

(Jaffna/Washington, 14 January 2019) The undersigned organisations strongly condemn the Sri Lankan Government’s decision to appoint Major General Shavendra Silva, an alleged war criminal, as the new Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Army. Brigadier Silva as he then was, led the Sri Lankan Army’s 58 Division during the last phase of the armed…

This week we commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Black July pogrom in which state-sponsored Sinhala mobs attacked Tamils in Colombo and elsewhere killing approximately 3000 Tamils and displacing over 200,000. 35 years have passed and to date, there has been no accountability for this horrific week of genocidal violence, nor even an attempt at…

Statement by Tamil Civil Society condemning violence against Muslim community March 6, 2018 We strongly condemn the violence being unleashed against the Muslim people in Kandy this week and in Ampara earlier last week. Initial reports from Ampara and Kandy make clear that the police by inaction were complicit in the violence. We, as Tamil civil society organizations who work…

Joint Civil Society Statement In Solidarity with Families of Disappeared’ Year-Long Protest February 20, 2018 Today marks one year since Families of the Disappeared took to the road in Kilinochchi, Marunthankerny (Jaffna), Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Mullaitivu demanding answers about the fate of their disappeared loved ones. Despite meetings with President Sirisena last year in which…

Impunity for Sri Lankan security forces must end now Call for the international community to re-prioritize accountability and justice in Sri Lanka November 13, 2017 We the undersigned organizations call upon members of the international community to re-prioritize accountability and justice for atrocity crimes committed during and after the armed conflict in their engagement with…

Statement by Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) for UPR Info Pre-Session (Geneva) October 10, 2017 Delivered by: Dharsha Jegatheeswaran, Research Director of ACPR *Check against delivery* *Read full statement here. Dear Member States of the UN Human Rights Council and civil society colleagues, I speak today as the Research Director of the Adayaalam Centre…

No more Excuses: President Sirisena Release the Lists Immediately as Promised Joint Statement on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances August 30, 2017 – Today marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances around the world. Today also marks the 192nd day of the ongoing roadside protest of Families of the…

Statement: ACPR condemns repression of May 18 memorialization efforts May 17, 2017 As the Tamil community marks the eighth year since the end of the war with events to remember those who were killed this month, the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) is gravely concerned about the government’s repression of memorialisation efforts by Tamils…

Sri Lanka’s Draft Counter Terrorism Act: a License for continued State Oppression, Intimidation and Torture May 4, 2017 The Sri Lankan cabinet’s approval of the new Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) is further confirmation of the state’s unwillingness to meet its obligations on human rights, to its citizens and the international community. The draconian Prevention of…

Statement: Civil Society supports Families of the Disappeared objecting to GSP+ April 25, 2017 We, the undersigned civil society organizations, support the demand of “Association of the Relatives of the Enforced Disappearance” in Kilinochchi District, to the European Parliament, requesting that GSP+ status not be restored until at the very least, the list of surrendees/detainees…