This week Just Asia begins with Sri Lanka, where investigations are ongoing into the abduction and murder of two businessmen from Rathgama. Until now, two police officers have already been arrested. Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department has revealed that the two businessmen, Manjula Asela and Rashin Chinthaka were abducted and murdered, and their bodies were then burnt. Just Asia speaks to Basil Fernando, Director of Policy and Program Development, AHRC, for details. Next, in the Philippines, Senator Leila de Lima marked her second year in detention last Sunday. She was…
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From enforced disappearances of rebels to businessmen
The discovery of body parts of two businessmen from Rathgama, Bussa area, who were abducted, disappeared, and later killed, allegedly by several policemen, including the Officer-In-Charge of the southern province special crime investigating unit, is major news in Sri Lanka these days. According to the newspapers, the two businessmen were kidnapped from Rathgama Bussa area, taken to a house in Akmeemana, where they were detained, beaten and finally killed. Their bodies were then taken to a forest reserve in the Walasmulla area, where they were burnt and buried. This was…
Read MoreArun Siddhartha’s positive contribution to the contemporary debate on the Sri Lankan Crises
The Internet broadcasted the long interview with Arun Siddhartha by Hiru on TV and separately on the YouTube channel, Vishwa Karma. One perspective that comes out of Arun Siddhartha’s reflections can be enormously positive. It can be used in trying to understand ways to resolve the present prolonged crises which have dragged the country into anarchy. The most important insight of Arun Siddhartha is that the situation faced by the entire country is the crises of a whole people, not just merely a crisis of one specific group or another.…
Read MorePublic space decreasing as talk of presidential election looms large
In an unprecedented move, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena attacked the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) for carrying out its duty to vet soldiers to participate in United Nations Peacekeeping Missions. While the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations requires the HRCSL to vet the human rights record of persons proposed for participation in peacekeeping missions, the President and the military are opposing this move. As a result, an earlier group of peacekeepers already in the Missions continue to be there, while a new group is unable to go. Two…
Read MoreFrom instability to greater disability
Perhaps one thing that was forgotten when Lord Dunmore gave Adult Franchise for all, and also when Sri Lanka became an independent nation, is the stability of the social structure of a country. This is what provides for the establishment of the government, which will ensure security and stability to all. When these matters are talked or written about, the invariable reaction is that we have gone deep into this crisis. Not just cynics, but those who know the ground reality, feel that whatever description is given about this crisis…
Read MorePrison inmates are the most persecuted in Sri Lanka | Sudesh Nandimal
OFFICE FOR REPARATIONS ACT, No. 34 OF 2018 ( Sinhala, English, Tamil,)
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE FOR REPARATIONS; TO IDENTIFY AGGRIEVED PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR REPARATIONS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROVISION OF INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE REPARATIONS TO SUCH PERSONS; TO REPEAL THE REHABILITATION OF PERSONS, PROPERTIES AND INDUSTRIES AUTHORITY ACT, NO. 29 OF 1987 ANDTOPROVIDE FORALLMATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH OR INCIDENTAL THERETO. WHEREAS the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka recognizes the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable human rights of all Sri Lankans and the State’s obligation to respect, secure and advance these…
Read MoreA Snapshot of the Criminal Justice System: Building a Picture Through Sexual Violence Cases in the Court of Appeal 2018 by Shenali De Silva and supported publication
The disparity in sentences illustrated a lack of uniformity and consistency in judges’ approaches to sentencing sexual violence offending. The non-adherence to statutory minimum sentences and ordering suspended sentences compounded the lack of consistency in sentencing. The existence, and extent, of sentencing disparities alerts to larger issues around the exercise of judicial discretion and the need for sentencing guidelines and other parameters to ensure consistency, fairness, and to minimise arbitrariness in judicial decision-making. Disparity in judicial decision-making, including non-observance of legislative constraints, indicates the exercise of judicial discretion is an…
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