'In this country, for everything, the penalty is death' - Bala Tampoe

Sri Lanka's firebrand trade unionist and renowned leftist Bala Tampoe, died on the 1st of September 2014 at the age of 92. He provided consistent leadership to the labour movement for over six decades as the General Secretary of the Ceylon Mercantile....

'Defence ministry is the shadow state that runs the country'

Basil Fernando, based in Hong Kong, heads the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), which holds the ECOSOC status with the United Nations. In 1992, he joined the United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAC).....

'Sugar coated reforms intend to make education a commodity'

The Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) was formed in 1978 and remains the largest student led organization in Sri Lanka to date. It represents the voice of student councils and action committees in 15 higher education institutes including all the major universities....

'Military dominates every aspect of public life' - Lal Wijenayake

Lal Wijenayake joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in 1963, which was considered to be 'the most influential professedly Trotskyist party anywhere in the world' as Robert J. Alexander has written. In 1972 he was elected to the Central Committee of the LSSP and soon.....

'Manipulation of the rule of law is the order of the day'

Jayasuriya Chrishantha Weliamuna - better known as JC Weliamuna - is a leading constitutional and human rights lawyer, who has been active in the field of human rights for almost two decades. He is the former Executive Director of the of the Sri Lankan chapter of......

'Our action has become wider than a trade union struggle'

Liyanage Amarakeerthi is a Senior Lecturer, in the Sinhala Department at the University of Peradeniya. Apart from being a versatile  writer, who authored 14 books, Dr.Amarakeerthi plays a prominent role in the ongoing trade union action called by the Federation of....

'Reconciliation' is a facade used to coverup crimes'

In January 2010, a Peoples' Tribunal on Sri Lanka was conducted in Ireland by Milan based Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT), an independent international body,  which derives its legacy from Russell - Satre Tribunal on Vietnam. The international hearing....

left

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka

  • JDS is the Sri Lankan partner organization of international media rights group, Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The launching of this website was made possible by the EU’s European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), of which Reporters Without Borders is a beneficiary.