Archives par mot-clé : Post-War

“Vanishing Hope in Sri Lanka: Amrita Chandradas on Remembering”

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Editor’s Note: Amrita Chandradas is a documentary photographer currently based in Singapore and working across Southeast Asia. In 2014 she won the prestigious “Top 30 Under 30” award by Magnum Photographs. In this exclusive article for Fox & Hedgehog she recounts the story of a trip to Sri Lanka to document the aftereffects of the civil war. You can view more of Amrita’s work on her website.

Sri Lanka—known for her pristine beaches, lush wild jungles, and exotic food—has successfully concealed a dark past of civil unrest and political instability for the last three decades. She is an island divided by twenty-six years of civil war between the Sri Lankan Military and the Tamil Tigers, one of the largest rebel guerrilla forces in the world. The Tigers, otherwise known as LTTE, are infamous for inventing suicide belts; they used women in suicide attacks and successfully assassinated two international political leaders. Sri Lankan society plunged into segregation during the year 1948 when she achieved her independence from the British.

to read more: http://foxhedgehog.com/2015/10/vanishing-hope-in-sri-lanka-amrita-chandradas-on-remembering/

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“Jaffna Suicide Rate Increased After End Of War” by Asian Miror

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“Daya Somasundaram, Professor of Psychiatry at Jaffna University said that suicide rate in Jaffna has gone up in the aftermath of the three decade long civil war in Sri Lanka.”

via: http://www.asianmirror.lk/news/item/2812-jaffna-suicide-rate-increased-after-end-of-war

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“Touring Terrorism: Landscapes of Memory in Post-War Sri Lanka” by Jennifer Hyndman and Amarnath Amarasingam (Centre for Refugee Studies, York University)

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Abstract

The Sri Lankan state’s power to narrate the war and characterize the enemy is an expression of “triumphalist nationalism” and is a selective remembering of war. Based on photographs taken during several field visits to these sites by both authors between December 2012 and January 2014, we analyze the relationship of war and tourism and how a particular Sinhala nationalist remembering of the war and landscape of memory are being constructed in post-war Sri Lanka. Today, Sri Lanka is a former war zone where the Government’s troops defeated the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) and ended 26years of violent conflict in May 2009. The end of the war came at a huge cost to civilian life in the northern part of the country ; the UN estimates that over 40,000 people were killed, most of whom were Tamils who form the majority in Northern Sri Lanka. Despite the end of military conflict, war continues by other means, and its representation encapsulates anationalist politics of victory that at once vilifies the defeated LTTE “terrorists” and excludes Northern Tamils from the Sri Lankan polis. The LTTE’s former hideouts, training facilities, weapons, and vehiclesare now tourist sites on display for public viewing.

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“A new phase of mediation to get from post-war to post-conflict Sri Lanka” by Jehan Perera

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The political resolution of the conflict will be difficult due to the ethnic and identity-based nature of the conflict which generates extreme insecurities on all sides. However, it is important that the Sri Lankan government takes immediate measures to improve the situation on the ground, so that there is an immediate peace dividend and its decision to invite South African facilitation is not seen as merely a hard headed decision to ward off the international community in Geneva. The situation in the North of the country, where over 60 have been arrested in recent weeks and some released by the security forces, and the targeting of the Muslim community by extremist groups, has created a climate of fear that is the opposite of reconciliation.

via: http://groundviews.org/2014/05/05/a-new-phase-of-mediation-to-get-from-post-war-to-post-conflict-sri-lanka/

source: Groundviews

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“Women and children in the North: Sexual harassment, grievances and challenges” by WATCHDOG

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Four years since the end of the war in Sri Lanka, women and children remain as, or more vulnerable and insecure than ever before. With the number of female headed households (i.e. war widows, spouses of the disappeared and long-term detained, teen mothers and wives abandoned by their spouses) and poverty having drastically increased as a result of the war, so have the grievances and hardships they are made to face. The State has set up few (if any) mechanisms/structures to ensure their security, and have nurtured a climate of absolute impunity with regard to how it treats perpetrators, particularly those directly affiliated to the State (i.e. police, military, local authorities).

Via http://groundviews.org/2013/10/31/women-and-children-in-the-north-sexual-harassment-grievances-and-challenges/

source: Groundviews

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“Sri Lanka at a critical crossroad: JHU and the 13th Amendment” by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

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“If the bad guys win, the centre of gravity of Sri Lankan politics and society will shift still further to the right. It may even impact upon the choice of candidacy. If the neo-con project with its totalitarian notion of national security succeeds, the present dispensation will appear in a roseate afterglow as an era of tolerance and democracy.”

Read full article here.
source: Groundviews

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“The ascendent hate speech in Sri Lanka: In conversation with Mohamed Hisham” by Groundviews

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Many Sri Lankans remain in denial about the horror of those years and resist calls to unearth (sometimes literally) the evidence. Some, obviously, are fearful that what they – or those close to them – did, or failed to do, will be exposed, while others may prefer to shy away from confronting the scale of suffering. The fact that certain leading figures in the government and opposition may be implicated has added to the pressure to let the past stay buried.
However this refusal to get to grips with what happened is not only unjust to the dead, the bereaved and the traumatised but may be largely to blame for the massive violence that has taken place in twenty-first century Sri Lanka and ongoing ethnic, religious and social divisions. What is more, all civilians are at risk when the state is regarded as unaccountable to anyone, able to torture, burn and kill with impunity.
See full interview here.
source: Groundviews

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“Sri Lanka: After the world’s media has moved on” by Sanjana Hattotuwa

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“As the Editor of Groundviews, I was invited by World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN/IFRA) to give a presentation on Sri Lanka at the 20th World Editors Forum (WEF) and the 65th World Newspaper Congress, held recently in Bangkok, Thailand.

As the only Sri Lankan invited to speak at the Forum, I focussed on challenges facing governance, human rights and democracy in Sri Lanka, over four years after the end of the war. I also spoke about the violence against independent media, and the culture of near total impunity against those who have killed, abducted, harmed, forced into exile and murdered journalists.”

Via http://groundviews.org/2013/06/06/sri-lanka-after-the-worlds-media-has-moved-on/

source: Groundviews

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“Sri Lanka at a critical crossroad: JHU and the 13th Amendment” by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

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If the bad guys win, the centre of gravity of Sri Lankan politics and society will shift still further to the right. It may even impact upon the choice of candidacy. If the neo-con project with its totalitarian notion of national security succeeds, the present dispensation will appear in a roseate afterglow as an era of tolerance and democracy.

Via http://groundviews.org/2013/05/30/sri-lanka-at-a-critical-crossroad-jhu-and-the-13th-amendment/”

source: Groundviews

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“Sri Lanka’s Numbers Game” by Padraig Colman

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There is a strong case for accountability and recognition of the loss of life. The current situation does not hold out much hope for genuine reconciliation. Naming and shaming on the basis of exaggerated numbers is not the way to persuade the Sinhalese community to recognise the loss of life amongst the Vanni Tamils. Bludgeoning them with inflated numbers could lead to a backlash.

Via http://groundviews.org/2013/05/28/sri-lankas-numbers-game/

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“The Numbers Never Lie: A Comprehensive Assessment of Sri Lanka’s LLRC Progress” by Groundviews

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Nearly four years since the end of the country’s civil war, Sri Lanka remains a divided, post-war society, as the ethnic conflict burns on. It has been fifteen months since the Final Report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was made public. In July 2012, the GoSL released an Action Plan to implement the LLRC recommendations, yet little progress has been made on this front. Instead, a host of problems related to the judiciary, governance and militarization, among other issues continue to plague the island nation.

Via http://groundviews.org/2013/03/14/the-numbers-never-lie-a-comprehensive-assessment-of-sri-lankas-llrc-progress

source: Groundviews

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