We, the undersigned organizations, condemn the Sri Lankan authorities’ violent crackdown and increasing reprisals against peaceful protesters in Sri Lanka. This includes arrests, intimidation and the brutal attack on the protest camp in Colombo on 22 July 2022. The Sri Lankan authorities must ensure that security forces do not use excessive force and will respect [ Read more ]

Five human rights organizations strongly condemned the brutal attack against unarmed peaceful protesters by Sri Lankan forces in Colombo on in the early hours of 22 July 2022 . Since March 2022, thousands of people including human rights defenders, journalists, and members of civil society have been protesting peacefully across the country against the government’s [ Read more ]

In response to the declaration of a state of emergency in Sri Lanka following President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s escape to the Maldives, Omer Dawoodjee, FORUM-ASIA Interim Executive Director said: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to flee the country amidst the ongoing crisis is clearly an attempt to escape accountability for grave crimes he is credibly implicated in [ Read more ]

Sri Lanka: Facilitate peoples’ right to dissent at 9 July mass protest Ahead of the anticipated mass protest on 9 July in Colombo demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his Government as the country goes through its worst economic crisis on record, FORUM-ASIA says: As Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis in history [ Read more ]

 50th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association   Delivered by Ahmed Adam On behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS – World Alliance for Citizen Participation and World Organisation Against [ Read more ]

(Bangkok/Kathmandu, 29 April 2022) – The excessive use of force by security personnel on peaceful protestors in Sri Lanka on 19 April has led to the death of a peaceful protestor. FORUM ASIA strongly condemns the crackdown by Sri Lankan authorities on the peaceful protestors who were exercising their fundamental rights. The Police’s excessive and [ Read more ]

Civic space is under attack in South Asia. Across the region, increasingly authoritarian governments are relying on a wide range of repressive laws and other tactics to silence criticism, a trend that only intensified in 2021. While the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is the starkest example of this, almost all other countries saw alarming restrictions [ Read more ]

49th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 2: Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner on the OHCHR written update on Sri Lanka (res. 46/1)   Delivered by Ahmed Adam On behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) 7 March 2022      Mr. President, Madam High Commissioner, We [ Read more ]

We the undersigned human rights organizations, express our deep concern about the statement issued by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry on February 4, 2022, in which the government denounced testimony given by Ambika Satkunanathan, a leading human rights lawyer, to the European Parliament on January 27. The government statement clearly constitutes an act of harassment [ Read more ]

The Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) launched the ANNI Report 2020 on the Performance of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), that critically assesses the performance of NHRIs against the Paris Principles in 2020. The Paris Principles are the minimum international standards for ensuring independent, effective, and credible NHRIs for the promotion [ Read more ]