On 16-17 February 2016 FORUM-ASIA will participate in a workshop in Sri Lanka organised by UPR-Info, INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre – a long-time member of FORUM-ASIA – and the National Fisheries Solidarity Organisation that aims to ensure all sectors of the national civil society are equipped to utilise the opportunities provided by the upcoming [ Read more ]

33rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 8: Follow up to and implementation of Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action – General Debate Oral Statement Delivered by Ahmed Adam On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) Monday, 26 September 2016   Mr. President, we note the two [ Read more ]

The side event to the 33rd Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, ‘Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka’, is co-organised by the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Franciscans International, the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR). The event will identify [ Read more ]

33rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 3: Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances and the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery Oral Statement Delivered by Arulvathana Stephen Sunthararaj (Wife of disappeared Sri Lankan human rights defender Stephen Sunthararaj) On behalf of the Asian Forum for Human [ Read more ]

INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre, a FORUM-ASIA member organisation from Sri Lanka, published a new report on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. The report, entitled ‘Human Rights Situation in Sri Lanka (17 August 2015 – 17 August 2016)‘, assesses human rights developments and trends in Sri Lanka over the last year. The report [ Read more ]

In January 2016 FORUM-ASIA elected a new Executive Committee. Over the last months, through interviews like the following one, we have introduced the different individual human rights defenders to you who will be part of the Committee for the coming three years. This time we talked to Ruki Fernando, from Sri Lanka, who is a [ Read more ]

1.Launch of the web page on ‘Bribery and Corruption in Sri Lanka’ Based on the documentation of successfully prosecuted cases related to bribery and corruption LST launched a web page on ‘Bribery and Corruption in Sri Lanka’ on 29th June 2016. The issue of corruption seems almost endemic to Sri Lanka. The giving and taking of bribes from the [ Read more ]

To: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Dear High Commissioner, Subject: Open letter on the oral update on Sri Lanka at the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council We write to you ahead of your oral update to the UN Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka. October 1, 2015 marked an important [ Read more ]

Sri Lanka has a long history of enforced disappearances dating back to the 1970s yet no legislation has been put in place criminalizing the act or towards protecting the rights of the families of the disappeared. No Commission has been successful in providing the answers the families have been looking for. Almost all of them [ Read more ]