This month marked the anniversary of the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, which killed hundreds in hotels and churches across the island. Five years have passed, and there are now more questions than answers - particularly around the role of the Sri Lankan state. What has become increasingly clear, however, is that Sri Lanka remains incapable of transparency, and of delivering justice to the victims and their families. As even the most hardcore proponents of domestic mechanisms have come to realise, just like for the atrocities before them, the Easter Sunday attacks deserve international accountability.
Tamil News
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Image courtesy of Tamil Narratives
Today marks the 19th anniversary since the abduction and murder of Tamil journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram.
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High Court judge Ilancheliyan appeared before Jaffna courts this week, where he provided a statement over a 2017 assassination attempt on his life, that saw a Sri Lankan police constable killed.
Judge Ilancheliyan was flanked by a police escort along with paramilitary troops, while security was beefed up around the court...
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An event was held at the historic Sorbonne University in Paris last week, under the theme “The Rights of the Tamil People in Sri Lanka”.
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The UK government said it “continues to be concerned by increasing tensions around land" in the North-East in response to a question raised by Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Patrick Grady about the arrest of eight Tamils at Vedukkunaari Hill temple in Vavuniya last month.
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Tamils in Vakarai, Batticaloa, held a protest this week to oppose the establishment of an ilmenite mine and a prawn farm due to the impact they will have on their livelihood and the environment.
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SJV Chelvanayakam, fondly known as Thanthi Chelva, is being remembered in Batticaloa and Jaffna today to mark 47 years since his death.
Chelvanayakam was responsible for spearheading the Vaddukoddai resolution, which was overwhelmingly ratified by the Tamil votes in the 1977 parliamentary elections.
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Ahead of his headline London show, the comedian sat with the Tamil Guardian in London, wearing his “Seeni Appa" (Sugar Daddy) T-shirt, to speak about his Tamil identity and how it has been integral to his comedy and to his audience.
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As part of their global annual report, Amnesty International slammed the Sri Lankan government’s human rights record noting that “impunity remained entrenched with the Sri Lankan government making no notable progress around the right to truth, justice and reparation for those affected by war”.
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Releasing its country report on Human Rights Practices in Sri Lanka, the US State Department said that 2023 was marred with a slew of “significant human rights issues” including torture, degrading treatment by the government, unjustified arrests, and extrajudicial killings.
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Argentina called on Sri Lanka to arrest Iranian minister Ahmad Vahidi, who was touted to visit the island alongside Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi this week, accusing him of orchestrating a 1994 attack on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.
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Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his delegation landed in Sri Lanka to inaugurate the Uma Oya Hydropower project this morning, just hours after the United States warned that it could impose sanctions on countries engaging in trade with Iran.
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Nishan Duraiappah, the Chief of Peel Regional Police, was aware of a Supreme Court ruling that found Sri Lanka’s police chief had personally participated in...
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The Sri Lankan government reportedly summoned the Canadian High Commissioner in Colombo over plans to construct a monument to victims of the Tamil genocide, thousands of miles away in the Canadian city of Brampton.
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Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, the Jaffna-born activist and athlete, who competed in the 1952 Olympics and won the first Gold Medal in any sport for Ceylon passed away on Thursday, 18 April 2024, aged 89 years old.
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Tamil residents and members of the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) held another protest to demand the removal of a Sinhala Buddhist shrine, the Tissa Rahamaha Vihara, which was built illegally and on land occupied by Sri Lanka's military.
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Three Eelam Tamils, including a boy, have fled to Tamil Nadu, undertaking a treacherous journey by boat from Batticaloa over the rising cost of living and ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
The two men and child were found seeking shelter from the sun at the sandbanks near Dhanushkodi when they...
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A Sri Lankan oversight committee on ‘national security’ has issued a directive to seize land for a Buddhist shrine in Jaffna, which local Tamil residents have opposed.
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Tea plantation workers in the island's hill country, a majority of whom are Malayaga Tamils staged a token strike demanding that their daily wage be increased to Rs.1700 ($5.67 USD) in keeping with the rising cost of living.
They accused the tea companies of ignoring a directive from the Sri Lankan president who assured that their daily wage would be increased to Rs.1700 per day. The protest was organized by the Ceylon Workers Congress along with the support of several...
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Services were held to mark 16 years since the assassination of Father Xavier Karunaratnam who was killed in a claymore attack by Sri Lanka's Deep Penetration Unit.
On April 20, 2008, Father Karunaratnam's vehicle was attacked by a command-detonated landmine while it was being towed after breaking down on Father Karunaratnam's journey home following Sunday Mass. Father Karunaratnam, was seated in the driver seat steering the vehicle when shrapnel hit his head,...
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Acting on a complaint lodged by the Governor of the Northern Province P.S.M. Charles, the editor-in-chief of the Valampuri Tamil newspaper was interrogated for several hours by Jaffna police over an article that appeared on March 18th.
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The US Navy, the US Marine Corps, and the Sri Lankan Navy will conduct a bilateral maritime joint exercise from Monday off the coast of Trincomalee where the government's notorious naval complex is located.
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Speaking to the media, Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith claimed he was tricked by ousted former President, and accused war criminal, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, into extending support for his candidacy in 2019 under the promise that...
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Tamil fishermen from Mullaitivu have criticised Sri Lanka's Fisheries Miniser Douglas Devananda, and leader of the notrious government-aligned EPDP paramilitary group, ...
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A Tamil journalist who had attended a public meeting chaired by Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister and government-aligned paramilitary leader Douglas Devananda was threatened by his security for filming an argument between residents and the minister.
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Today marks 38 years since Sri Lankan soldiers destroyed the chariot of the ancient Selva Channithy Murugan Temple in Thondaimaanaaru, one of the largest Hindu chariots in the world at the time.
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As India, the world’s largest democracy, heads to the polls, much focus has been on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its campaign in Tamil Nadu – a powerhouse state of more than 70 million Tamils. The North Indian party has been intensely campaigning as it looks to expand southwards into an area where it currently holds no seats....
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In a tweet posted by the Russian Embassy, the Russian Embassy in Colombo denied any involvement in the recruitment of Sri Lankan military members adding it had “no information about the participation of Sri Lankan nationals in the Ukraining conflict on the Russian side, nor data regarding possible numbers.”
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Sri Lanka’s discussion with international bondholders to restructure more than USD 12 billion in debt hit a snag after it rejected two of the conditions, putting at risk the critical International Monetary Fund support which has been a lifeline to Sri Lanka since the onset of the economic crisis in 2022.
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Tamils across the North-East commemorated Annai Poopathy on Friday to mark 36 years since she fasted unto death in protest of the atrocities committed by the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF).
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Tamil Guardian sat down with national winners of the 2024 Canadian Wrestling Championships, Adsaya and Aaharen Piranavan, accompanied by their parents, to discuss their passion for martial arts, healthy sibling rivalries, and the challenges immigrant parents face when trying to provide a better life for their children.
World News
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Last week a US judge ruled that French bank, BNP Paribas, must face a lawsuit accusing the bank of helping the Sudanese government commit genocide between 1997 and 2011 by providing banking services that violated American sanctions.
U.S. District Judge in Manhattan, Alvin Hellerstein, found substantial evidence that showed a relationship between BNP Paribas' financing and...
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Hundreds of bodies have been uncovered so far at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, central Gaza, and at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in the north, responding to the harrowing discovery the international community is calling for independent investigations to guarantee accountability for any violations of international law.
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Germany said on Wednesday that it plans to resume funding for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) after an independent review found no credible evidence of Israel's allegations that 12 UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 attack on Israel.
The allegations led 16 donor countries including two of UNRWA's largest donors, the United States and Germany, to halt funding for...
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The UK’s House of Lords currently considering a landmark piece of legislation which would see UK courts empowered to make a determination on if a genocide is occurring and compel the government to act.
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The United States has once again used its veto power in support of Israel after it vetoed a widely supported draft resolution that would have granted the state of Palestine full UN membership.
Speaking to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) ahead of the vote, Ziad Abu Amr, UN special representative of the observer State of Palestine, emphasized that making Palestine a full...
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Nicaragua has asked the UN's highest court to halt German weapons sales to Israel at the start of a landmark case.
A lawsuit in the German domestic courts will also ask judges to urgently direct the government to revoke all arms licences to Israel issued since October 7th,
Germany is accused of breaching the UN genocide convention by sending military hardware...
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Ex-general Benedicto Lucas García, 91, has been indicted for genocide, crimes against humanity - including widespread rape - and forced disappearances.
The former general was accused of ordering the murder of more than 1,200 indigenous Ixil Maya people during Guatemala's civil war.
The alleged crimes occurred between 1978 and 1982, when...
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A draft UN resolution that declares July 11 "The International Day of Reflection and Remembrance of the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide" will be submitted to the UN Assembly for scrutiny on April 17 and is to be voted by the 193 member states of UN General Assembly on May 2.
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Over 10 million children in Sudan have been in an active war zone for the past year.
A recent analysis by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) on behalf of Save the Children has revealed that 50 percent of children in Sudan are currently or have been within five kilometers of the frontlines of conflict within the last year.
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The UN has confirmed that thirty-eight migrants, including children, have died after the boat they were traveling in capsized off the coast of Djibouti.
The boat carrying 66 migrants, primarily from Ethiopia, left Yemen for Djibouti around 2 am. At approximately 4 am on 8 April, about 200 meters from the northeastern coast of Djibouti the boat sank. 5 migrants are missing and...
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Rwanda's president said the international community "failed all of us", as he marked 30 years since the 1994 genocide that killed around 800,000 people.
President Paul Kagame addressed dignitaries and world leaders who had gathered in Rwanda's capital, Kigali, to commemorate the bloodshed.
"Rwanda was completely humbled by the magnitude of our loss," he said.
"And the lessons we learned are engraved in blood."
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A UN expert has expressed concerns over escalating gang violence in Haiti.
American human rights lawyer and UN human rights expert on Haiti, William O’Neill has voiced alarm over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Port-au-Prince. "There’s a level of intensity and cruelty in the violence that is simply unprecedented in my experience in Haiti," said O'Neill. The UN...
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Brazil has issued its first-ever apology for the torture and persecution of Indigenous people during the military dictatorship, including the incarceration of victims in an infamous detention centre known as an “Indigenous concentration camp”.
The apology was made on Tuesday by an amnesty commission attached to the human rights ministry that is tasked with investigating the crimes of the 1964-85 regime.
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On Tuesday, seven people working with a humanitarian organization delivering food aid in Gaza were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit their cars which were clearly marked with the charity's logo.
The airstrike on the World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy killed a Palestinian, a Canada-US dual citizen, an Australian Citizen, a Polish citizen, and three UK citizens.
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The UN warns of a deteriorating situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as M23 rebels continue to make gains, pushing hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes.
Heavy fighting between the DRC government forces and armed group M23 has intensified in the eastern part of the country since February, forcing hundreds of thousands of...
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Israel told four European countries on Monday that their plan to take steps towards recognizing a Palestinian state constitutes a “prize for terrorism”.
On Friday Spain joined Ireland, Malta, and Slovenia in agreeing to take the first steps toward recognizing statehood declared by Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
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The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the United States abstained from the vote.
Resolution 2728 was proposed by 10 elected members of the council, 14 council members voted in favour.
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The Indian government has enacted a controversial citizenship law that has been described as discriminatory towards Muslims by critics.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), proposed by the Modi government, explicitly makes religion the basis for acquiring Indian citizenship.
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Source: Flickr, July 29, 2016
While attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea, about 60 migrants have died after the engine of their small dinghy broke down.
On Wednesday, the dinghy was spotted by a ship belonging to the humanitarian organization, SOS Mediterranee. The humanitarian group was able to rescue 25 survivors who were showing...
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A UN fact-finding mission (FFM) has concluded that the Iranian regime’s human rights violations during its brutal suppression of protests in 2022 amount to crimes against humanity.
In November 2022, the UN Human Rights Council established an FFM two months after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that swept the country. The protests were in response to the death of 22-year-old...
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On 4 March the United States sanctioned eleven Zimbabwean officials including President Emmerson Mnangagwa for their connection to corruption or serious human rights abuses.
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Five members of the SAS have been arrested by British military police on suspicion of allegedly committing war crimes while on operations in Syria.
The case against the five revolves around the alleged murder of a suspected jihadist in Syria who was killed on operations two years ago. Case files recommending prosecution of murder charges have been sent by service police to the Service Prosecuting Authority, the military equivalent of the CPS.
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Human rights experts have condemned a decision by Indonesia’s outgoing president to award the rank of honorary four-star general to his presumed successor, Prabowo Subianto, a controversial figure accused of human rights violations.
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On Friday, President Biden announced plans to carryout a US military airdrop of food and supplies into Gaza.
The announcement comes just a day after Israeli forces opened fire on thousands of Palestinians lining up for desperately needed food assistance. The massacre left more than 750 wounded and killed at least 112 Palestinans.
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Nicaragua has filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Germany for providing Israel financial and military aid, and for suspending funding for the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA).
The case brought on by Nicaragua builds on South Africa's ICJ case against Israel. In it Nicaragua states that Germany is violating the 1948 Genocide convention and the 1949...
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A member of the US Air Force has died after setting himself on fire outside of the Israeli Embassy in Washington in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.
The 25-year-old US airman, Aaron Bushnell of San Antonio, Texas, died from his injuries on Monday according to the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, DC.
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The UN Human Rights Office has stated that warring sides in Sudan have committed abuses that could amount to war crimes, including indiscriminate attacks on civilian sites such as hospitals, markets, and refugee camps.
The 10-month conflict has killed thousands and displaced approximately 8 million people.
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UN experts are calling for a full investigation into credible allegations that Palestinian women and girls have been subjected to sexual assault while in Israeli detention.
A panel of experts has stated that there is evidence of at least two cases of rape alongside other cases of sexual humiliation and threats of rape.
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The UK’s minister for veterans, Johnny Mercer, has effectively admitted in front of a public inquiry that he believed members of the SAS had engaged in dozens of unlawful killings of Afghan civilians between 2010 and 2013.
Asked by the chair of the inquiry to clarify that he was describing "allegations of straight murder" by the SAS, Mr Mercer replied, "Yes."
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The Foreign Secretary has announced sanctions on 4 extremist Israeli settlers who have committed human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.
There have been unprecedented levels of violence by extremist settlers in the West Bank over the past year. Some residents of illegal Israeli settlements and outposts have used harassment,...