Sri Lanka: new test of India’s global influence

By pearlaction | December 19, 2011 |

[Global Post] The Sri Lankan government’s efforts to erase from history the final months of its 25-year-long war against Tamil separatists hit a snag this week, as humanitarian organizations blasted the report of an internal probe into alleged human rights violations and possible war crimes as a whitewash. [Full Story]

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Ferry returns of Sri Lankan refugees from India due to start Wednesday

By pearlaction | October 11, 2011 |

[UNHCR] UNHCR is expecting the first returns of Sri Lankan refugees by commercial ferry from India to start on Wednesday, 12th October. The returns are part of a voluntary, facilitated repatriation programme, supported by the governments of both India and Sri Lanka. A welcoming ceremony at Colombo port is planned with Sri Lankan government officials,…

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The death penalty in India: Fatally flawed

By pearlaction | October 1, 2011 |

[The Economist] ARPUTHAM AMMAL, a pensioner with curly silver hair and a wheezing cough, is an abolitionist. Perched in a gloomy warehouse in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu, as young men bustle over an exhibition against the death penalty, she explains why. “It is not needed. The ultimate victims of the death sentence are the…

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Protecting Human Rights in Sri Lanka

By pearlaction | July 20, 2011 |

[Huffington Post] U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to India this week offers a vital opportunity for the world’s two greatest democracies to jointly promote their common values supporting freedom and civil rights in South Asia — a region where extremism and China’s influence continues to grow. More specifically, the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue must…

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