child soldiers – People for Equality and Relief in Lanka

A long Road ahead for family reunification for Sri Lanka’s Missing Children

By pearlaction | December 2, 2011 |

[SOS Children’s Villages Canada] During the final Months of conflict in 2009, while the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) rebel group experienced the final showdown in the contested north of the small island nation, frightened civilians escaped the embattled north in an attempt to find safety in government territory. [Full Story]

Sri Lanka ‘counting civilian war deaths’

By pearlaction | November 24, 2011 |

[BBC] Sri Lanka is close to completing a census of the number of civilians who died in the final phase of the civil war, the defence secretary has said. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the count proves the number of people killed as a result of government action was “far too small” to constitute war crimes. [Full…

Rights groups eye jailed Tamil ex-rebel

By pearlaction | January 25, 2008 |

[BBC] A renegade former commander of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels has been jailed for identity fraud in the UK. The BBC’s Jill McGivering watched Col Karuna’s sentencing and asked human rights groups for their reaction. Isleworth Crown Court is an unimpressive modern building, set midway down a leafy residential street in suburban London. But…