The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.
Human rights in Sri Lanka provides for fundamental rights in the country. The Sri Lanka Constitution states that every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice. And, that every person is equal before the law.
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism or rebellion, to control illegal immigration, or to otherwise protect the ruling regime.
Human rights in Lebanon refers to the state of human rights in Lebanon, which were considered to be on par with global standards in 2004. Some believed to be criminals and terrorists are said to be detained without charge for both short and long periods of time. Freedom of speech and of the press are ensured to the citizens by the Lebanese laws which protect the freedom of each citizen. Palestinians living in Lebanon are heavily deprived of basic civil rights. They cannot own homes or land, and are barred from becoming lawyers, engineers and doctors. However, the Lebanese government has reduced the number of restricted jobs and created a national dialogue committee for the issue. During the Arab Spring, Lebanon experienced major protests and sectarian violence, but avoided the large-scale political upheaval seen in many parts of the Arab world.
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda, is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he became a pro-government paramilitary leader and politician. Due to his strong opposition to and vocal criticism of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, they unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him over 10 times. Devananda is a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping. He was sworn in as Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on 22 November 2019.
Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam is a Sri Lankan journalist. He was detained by the Terrorism Investigation Division of the Sri Lanka Police on 7 March 2008. He was held without charge for almost 6 months. He was indicted on politically motivated charges under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act for intending to incite communal hatred through writing, and furthering terrorist acts through the collection of money for his publication. On 31 August 2009, he was convicted of the charges by the Colombo High Court and sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1978 is a law in Sri Lanka. It provides the police with broad powers to search, arrest, and detain suspects. It was first enacted as a temporary law in 1979 under J. R. Jayewardene presidency, then made permanent in 1982.
Kouhyar Goudarzi is an Iranian human rights activist, journalist and blogger who was imprisoned several times by the government of Iran. He previously served as an editor of Radio Zamane. He is a member of Committee of Human Rights Reporters (CHRR), serving as the head from 2005-2009.
MV Sun Sea is a Thai cargo ship that brought 492 Sri Lankan Tamils into British Columbia, Canada, in August 2010. Following their arrival, the passengers—seeking refuge in Canada after the Sri Lankan Civil War—were transferred to detention facilities in the Lower Mainland, for which the Canadian Government would garner heavy criticism from various Canadian advocacy groups.
Dissidents have been detained as political prisoners in Saudi Arabia during the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Protests and sit-ins calling for political prisoners to be released took place during the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests in many cities throughout Saudi Arabia, with security forces firing live bullets in the air on 19 August 2012 at a protest at al-Ha'ir Prison. As of 2012, recent estimates of the number of political prisoners in Mabahith prisons range from a denial of any political prisoners at all by the Ministry of Interior, to 30,000 by the UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission and the BBC.
Thirumurugan Gandhi is an Indian human rights activist and Geo-Political Commentator noted for founding the May 17 Movement. The movement initially campaigned for the rights and justice for the killings of Eelam Tamil for their separate Tamil Eelam, primarily those affected by the last stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Dr. S Rajasundaram was a Sri Lankan Tamil activist known for his struggle for the rights of Tamil people in Sri Lanka, through peaceful and democratic means. Along with his friend S.A. David, He founded Gandhiyam, a social service organization, named after the Indian revolutionary Mahatma Gandhi, that was aimed at economic, social, cultural revival of the Tamils and also fight the Sri Lankan state's repeated and continued policies of oppressing the Tamils and denying them of their rights. The Sri Lankan government unlawfully arrested along with him, several thousands Tamil activists and he was sentenced to the Welikada Prison where he was subsequently killed during the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983.
Jeyakumari Balendran is a Sri Lankan Tamil woman and an activist campaigning for the families of those who disappeared while in Sri Lankan military custody. Sri Lankan government forces currently have Ms Jeyakumari and her 13-year-old daughter Vipoosika in detention at an unknown location. They gained prominence during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Jaffna in November, when Vipoosika’s desperate pleas for the return of her missing brother gained widespread coverage. Civil society campaigners have expressed concern for the safety of mother and daughter.
The following lists notable events that occurred during 2016 in Sri Lanka.
Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka has occurred repeatedly during the island's long ethnic conflict. The first instances of rape of Tamil women by Sinhalese mobs were documented during the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom. This continued in the 1960s with the deployment of the Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna, who were reported to have molested and occasionally raped Tamil women.
Shakthika Sathkumara is a writer and civil servant from Sri Lanka. He was charged under Section 3(1) of the ICCPR Act and Art 291(B) of the Penal Code of Sri Lanka, which covers propagating hatred and incitement of racial or religious violence, and faced up to ten years imprisonment. In February 2021, he was discharged.
Joseph Stalin is a Sri Lankan trade unionist. As of 2022, serving as general secretary of the Ceylon Teachers' Union. He has led campaigns against the militarisation of education in Sri Lanka.
Pygamberdy Allaberdyev is a lawyer from Turkmenistan, who was sentenced to a 6-year prison term on hooliganism charges but was released after 2 years. In May 2022, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at the United Nations concluded that Turkmenistan had violated international human rights law in detaining Allaberdyev, as his detention was likely related to his pro-democracy work. On December 10th 2022, he was released as part of a mass amnesty related to Turkmenistan's Day of Neutrality.
