SRI LANKA: ALRC has submitted Alternative Report to the Committee Against Torture

The Asian Legal Resource Centre wishes to inform you that ALRC along with its partners Janasansadaya, Sri Lanka; Human Rights Office, Sri Lanka; Right to Life, Sri Lanka; Gampaha Citizen’s Committee, Sri Lanka; and Rule of Law Forum, Sri Lanka; have submitted an Alternative Report on Sri Lanka today, 11 October 2016, to the Committee Against Torture of the United Nations.

SRILANKA: Proposed Office of Missing persons is no substitute for immediate investigations into murders

It seems no progress can be made in Sri Lanka on the attitude to murder. Murder is now regarded as normal and therefore not something to worry much about. And, this is exactly what should worry everyone. But hardly anyone seems to worry about it. We see the same thing in the proposed Office of Missing Persons (OMP). The simple fact about a missing person in Sri Lanka is that he or she is dead. Very rarely, does a missing person re-appear. As in the case of the dead, missing persons normally never appear again. At least that is case in Sri Lanka, whatever the case may be elsewhere off […]

SRI LANKA: Enforced Disappearances and Extrajudicial Killings

ALRC-CWS-27-02-2014 August 29, 2014 HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Twenty seventh session, Agenda Item 3, Interactive Dialogue with Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances A written submission to the UN Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre SRI LANKA: Enforced Disappearances and Extrajudicial Killings 1. Although, technically speaking, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings are two distinct categories of gross violations of human rights, these two categories often overlap in Sri Lanka. Often, what get classified as enforced disappearances are kidnappings followed by interrogation, which often involve the use of torture and ill-treatment, followed by executions done in secret and, finally, the secret disposal of bodies. Despite several commissions looking […]

SRI LANKA/FRANCE: Torture in Sri Lanka — when arbitrariness prevails

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE ALRC-PRL-002-2012 A Joint Press Release by ACAT France and the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) SRI LANKA/FRANCE: Torture in Sri Lanka — when arbitrariness prevails (Hong Kong, June 26, 2012) Paris — Hong Kong, 26 June 2012. On June 26th, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, ACAT-France, in collaboration with the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), releases “When arbitrariness prevails” a new report providing an overview of the phenomenon of torture in Sri Lanka. The findings are devastating: three years after the end of the conflict between governmental forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the use of torture and […]

SRI LANKA: Abductors threaten the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 28, 2012 ALRC-CWS-19-10-2012 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Nineteenth session, Agenda Item 4, General Debate A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status SRI LANKA: Abductors threaten the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) is gravely concern about the abduction of Ramasamay Prabhakaran, 42, who was bundled into a white van by seven men armed with assault rifles and hand guns. This was two days before a fundamental rights case filed by him was to be taken up at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. In a written statement to […]

SRI LANKA: Government failing to cooperate with the Human Rights Council and eradicate torture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2011 ALRC-CWS-16-11-2011 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Sixteenth session, Agenda Item 3, Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Torture A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status SRI LANKA: Government failing to cooperate with the Human Rights Council and eradicate torture The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) is gravely concerned by the widespread and endemic use of torture in Sri Lanka and the lack of any credible action by the government, as shown by its failure to implement the many recommendations made by the United Nations (UN) human rights system, notably the Special […]

SRI LANKA: Right to the truth required regarding “death sentences” carried out secretly by state agencies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 31, 2010 ALRC-CWS-15-13-2010 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 4 A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status SRI LANKA: Right to the truth required regarding “death sentences” carried out secretly by state agencies 1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) wishes to inform the Human Rights Council of a phenomenon that is of grave concern to the organization with regard to Sri Lanka and the wider Asian region. The ALRC is seriously disturbed by claims that have been made by some security agencies about their right to decide on “death sentences” […]

SRI LANKA: Lack of safe drinking water leading to upsurge in health problems

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 30, 2010 ALRC-CWS-15-11-2010 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 3 A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status SRI LANKA: Lack of safe drinking water leading to upsurge in health problems The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) joins the UN Independent Expert on human rights, water and sanitation, Ms. Catarina de Albuquerque, in welcoming the landmark resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 28 July 2010 that recognised water and sanitation as a human right. Every year, nearly 1.8 million people die from diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera, according to the WHO. Of […]

BURMA and SRI LANKA: Council required to take effective action to address human rights crises

Date: September 22, 2009 Document id: ALRC-COS-12-09-2009 Speaker: Michael Anthony HRC section: Item 4, General Debate An Oral Statement to the 12th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization in general consultative status BURMA and SRI LANKA: Council required to take effective action to address human rights crises Thank you Mr. President, The Council is currently failing to effectively address human rights crises, for example those in Sri Lanka and Myanmar. This is not simply a failing of political will, but also one of approach. In Sri Lanka, the continuing grave situation of IDPs is testimony to this. Furthermore, the […]