The United States recently introduced its second United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution on Sri Lanka, calling attention to the government’s alleged violations of international human rights law. The resolution supports reconciliation efforts and requires government investigation into allegations of human rights abuses and indiscriminate killings of Tamil civilians …
Three days after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris met in Washington, D.C., to discuss Sri Lanka’s human rights record, former Sri Lankan Army General Sarath Fonseka was released from prison. Fonseka is viewed as a war hero by the Sinhalese majority for his …
Ever since Sri Lanka ended a two-and-a-half-decade civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) in 2009, the government has faced questions about alleged violations of human rights and the killing of thousands of civilians during the war. Despite the Sri Lankan government’s initial resistance to exploring these …
Was it wise for the Obama administration to reverse the Bush administration’s policy of distancing the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council? With the Council’s 15th session underway, it’s a question worth asking. The Council has been receiving more attention than unusual lately because the administration recently submitted …
Last week President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka issued a full pardon to J.S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil journalist who had spent 21 months in detention for his conviction under Sri Lankan anti-terrorism laws for criticizing the actions by the Sri Lankan army during the civil war with the Liberation Tigers …
