Under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership, the Sri Lankan civil war reached a brutal conclusion on May 18, 2009, ending a 25-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist rebel group. Rooted in longstanding grievances, including discriminatory policies against Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, the conflict saw the [...]
Search Results for: truth AND reconciliation commission
Peru Congress commission advances bill protecting alleged perpetrators of crimes against humanity
The Constitutional Commission of the Peruvian Congress approved Tuesday the report of Bill No. 6951/2023-CR, which establishes that no one can be prosecuted, sentenced or punished for crimes against humanity or war crimes committed before July 1, 2002. As a result, emblematic cases from the period of internal violence in Peru between 1980 and 2000, [...]
Explainer: Competing Legislative Agendas Come to a Head in Sri Lanka
The year 2024 is an important one for Sri Lanka. It is a presidential election year, and a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council to gather evidence of international crimes for use in future prosecutions is due for renewal. After the public ousters of the former-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2023, Ranil Wickremesinghe [...]
Ireland challenges UK Northern Ireland Troubles Act in new ECHR filing
The government of Ireland lodged a new application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Friday concerning recently enacted UK legislation that would grant amnesty to individuals accused of committing atrocities during the Northern Ireland Troubles. According to a press release from the ECHR, the Irish government challenged the legislation on the grounds [...]
India investigation agency summons prominent Kashmir leader over money laundering allegations
India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) reportedly summoned Farooq Abdullah on Thursday on allegations of misappropriation of funds from the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA). Farooq Abdullah is the former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The ED had provisionally attached a residential property worth Rs 7.25 Crore under the Prevention of [...]
Former Gambia government minister faces trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity
TRIAL International informed on Thursday that Ousman Sonko, a former Gambian Minister of Interior, will be tried by the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) in Bellinzona on January 8, 2024, and the trial will last till January 30. The former minister will be tried for crimes against humanity committed by him under ousted Gambian dictator Yahya [...]
Sri Lankan Prison Commissioner Gamini Dissanayake announced earlier this week that President Ranil Wickremesinghe pardoned over 1,000 prisoners because of the Christmas holiday. The exact number released was 1,004, comprising 989 men and 15 women. A majority of those who were pardoned by the president Sunday were those accused of being unable to pay outstanding [...]
India Supreme Court upholds repeal of Jammu and Kashmir special status
The Indian Supreme Court upheld the Union Government’s 2019 decision to repeal the special status accorded to the state of Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370 of the India Constitution on Monday. The Court declared Article 370 a temporary provision, stating that the constitution did not indicate that Jammu and Kashmir should retain sovereignty after [...]
Sri Lanka to establish independent commission for truth and reconciliation
The Sri Lankan government announced Friday the establishment an independent Commission for Truth, Unity and Reconciliation through an act introduced in Sri Lanka’s Parliament. The government stated that the commission is intended to “ensure an inclusive process in developing legislation that strengthens and safeguards national unity through truth, transitional justice, reconciliation, reparation and social cohesion.” The [...]
German court sentences Gambia man to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity
A German court handed down a life imprisonment sentence to Gambian national Bai Lowe on Thursday after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder for his actions with a death squad known as the Junglers, notorious for targeting adversaries of former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. The squad’s victims even included [...]