Category: News

Right to Life, a prominent human rights advocacy organization, has issued a strong statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, calling for urgent action to prevent torture and promote a civilized society. The organization highlights the need for Sri Lanka, a member state of the United Nations and a party to the International Convention against Torture, to address the issue of torture within its borders. Torture is universally condemned as a crime against humanity, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has emphasized the imperative…

Read More

  Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe I have been a torture victim. It was not for hours or days. Not for months too. It can even be counted in years. It started in May 1989, worsened by the end of the year, and began to be slightly better in mid-1990, but continued until late 1992, the time I was freed after an enforced rehabilitation. I was an activist of the rebel People’s Liberation Front (JVP) since 1984 after the party was banned unfairly. JVP converted into a militant movement in early 1986…

Read More

By Dulan Dasanayaka, Attorney at Law  “The term ‘torture’ means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at…

Read More

We are standing on a ground filled with skeletal remains and a country the UN rated second in the world for unsolved enforced disappearances, an HR activist opined yesterday at the release of report based on a lengthy probe on mass graves in Sri Lanka. “We are a race that respect the dead and dispose remains in a respectful way. But we are standing and stepping on a ground, which is filled with tens and thousands of human skeletal remains found from countrywide mass graves,” said Human Rights Activist Brito…

Read More

An individual was injured in a shooting by Akmeemana traffic police on Saturday (10). The police say that the incident had occurred following a routine inspection where a motorcycle with two individuals was told to halt on a side road on the Walahanduwa to Nugaduwa road last night. Following the Police Officers attempting to approach the suspects one of the individuals fled on a motorcycle. The other suspect had attempted to throw a grenade at the police officers when the Police constable discharged his weapon. The 21-year-old suspect who was…

Read More

  A petition has been filed with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, highlighting the alleged violation of fundamental rights in the shooting of a fifteen-year-old minor by police officers in Thihagoda. The petitioner, Dhammika Malkanthi, seeks justice for her son, who sustained severe injuries during the incident. According to the petitioner, the incident occurred on October 28, 2022, when her son and several companions were traveling in a three-wheeler on Kandepola Road. They encountered a minor obstruction, leading four police officers, including Sub Inspector Sunil Rajagalagoda Gamage, to halt…

Read More

In a significant development regarding the Rambukkana shooting incident, multiple Fundamental Rights (FR) applications have been filed on behalf of the victims. The cases were brought before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, seeking justice and accountability for the tragic events that unfolded. The FR applications, numbered SC FR 73/2023, SC FR 74/2023, SC FR 75/2023, SC FR 120/2023, and SC FR 121/2023, were filed on behalf of Lalith Devapriya, Sahan Hasitha, Ashen Samaranayaka, Chaminda Rajapaksa & Thilakaratne Bandara, and Buddhika Edirisinghe & Milanga Wickremasuriya, respectively. On May 24, 2023,…

Read More

  According to the sources of the National Police Commission, a complaint has been received that a 31-year-old resident of Rajawella, Kandy, was arrested and taken to the house of a Teldeniya police officer, beaten and sprayed with hot peppers on his genitals. To investigate the complaint, Teldaniya Senior Superintendent of Police PMDUB. The sources also mention that it has been forwarded to Mr. Palihavadana. However, five months have passed since this incident, yet no action has been taken against the police officers. The leg of the person who was…

Read More

Phillip Dissanayake The citizens of Sri Lanka have mixed views about Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) because of the way they are portrayed by the government, politicians, and media. In broader terms, NGOs can be defined as independent organizations that are not directly affiliated with the government. They run without the aim of generating profits, and operate in the fields of humanitarian and social work. However, there is a specific political definition for the term NGOs. Accordingly, NGOs are a part of the civil society. NGOs are a category of civil society…

Read More

Police have commenced an investigation into the death of a female domestic aide of Sudharma Nettikumara, former wife of proprietor of the Salaka Senkada group of companies, and a producer of films and teledramas. Investigators said that the death of the domestic help occurred while she was under the custody of the Welikada police over a complaint lodged by Sudharma that one of her gold rings with some other jewellery had gone missing and that she suspected the servant had stolen it. The deceased has been identified as R. Raja…

Read More