The Abbott government is resisting a push by its closest allies to establish a United Nations investigation into war crimes and human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, where Australia has returned more than 1100 failed asylum seekers in the past 18 months. A draft …
India will vote in favour of the resolution on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UPA government is learnt to have decided in possibly its last major foreign policy decision. The vote is expected on March 28 in Geneva. This …
A coalition of 24 civil society organisations from the global South, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Uganda, called on the UN Human Rights Council to strengthen the current draft text …
A prominent Sri Lankan rights activist controversially detained by his government under anti-terror laws says he believes his arrest was partly spurred by an international push to independently investigate the country’s human rights record following decades of civil war. Ruki Fernando, one of his country’s …
A side-event at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva saw first-hand testimony from Dr Varatharajah Thurairajah, one of the doctors active in the No Fire Zone, in the last phase of the armed conflict. The event, moderated by Julie de Rivero of …
The Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Senator Robert Menendez wrote to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay to express his support for a resolution at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council that calls for an international investigation into Sri …
A question was asked by Lord Wills in the House of Lords on 17 March 2014 what assessment they have made of the authorship and sponsorship of the book Corrupted Journalism: Channel 4 and Sri Lanka in their analysis of human rights in Sri …
Sri Lanka freed two human rights activists three days after they were arrested on terrorism-related charges, Xinhua news agency reported. Senior Superintendent of Police Ajith Rohana said the two activists were produced before a Magistrate overnight and set free after being questioned by the …
In a statement issued yesterday by the Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, the government rejected international concerns over the detention of three activists – Balendran Jeyakumari, Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen, as well as Ms. Jeyakumari’s 13 year old daughter, …
At a meeting on 17 March 2014, between the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights and Non -Governmental Organisations, on the sidelines of the 25th session of the Human Rights Council, saw renewed calls for an international investigation. High Commissioner of the United …