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  – Right to Life Human Rights Center According to the website of the Welfare Benefits Board, Sri Lanka currently has 31 proposed welfare benefit schemes. Among them, five are targeted in the present welfare benefits scheme. They are, Samurdhi, Elderly Assistance, Kidney Disease Scheme, Disability Assistance Scheme, and Public Assistance. A recent nationally representative […]

  By Philip Dissanayake A young man named Dinesh Madhusankha Liyanage, a resident of the Yagirala Ittepana, works at the Agrarian Service Centre in Ittepana. On November 30, 2022, while he was on his way to work, a group of police officers of Ittepana police station took him to a deserted area in a three-wheeler,

In June 2023, Sri Lanka witnessed a shocking increase in child abuse incidents, highlighting the urgent need for collective action to protect vulnerable children. According to reports, a total of 78 incidents were documented, affecting a heartbreaking 80 child victims. Among them, 58% were female and 37% were male, with sexual abuse accounting for 35%

In the face of a devastating catastrophe, Sri Lanka relies heavily on its women working in the Middle East as vital contributors to the country’s foreign exchange, with their remittances bolstering the struggling economy. However, the dreams of a better life for their families often transform into nightmares as many of these women find themselves

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe recently disclosed a distressing truth regarding the backlog of cases in Magistrates’ courts throughout Sri Lanka. Shockingly, nearly one-third of these cases involve child abuse and rape, tarnishing the nation’s reputation and necessitating immediate action. Out of the 29,723 pending lawsuits, an alarming 5,550 cases are related to child abuse, while

Right to Life, a prominent human rights advocacy centre, has issued a strong statement on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, calling for urgent action to prevent torture and promote a civilized society. The organization highlights the need for Sri Lanka, a member state of the United Nations and

By Dulan Dasanayaka, Attorney at Law  “The term ‘torture’ means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed

Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe I have been a torture victim. It was not for hours or days. Not for months too. It can even be counted in years. It started in May 1989, worsened by the end of the year, and began to be slightly better in mid-1990, but continued until late 1992, the time I

An individual was injured in a shooting by Akmeemana traffic police on Saturday (10). The police say that the incident had occurred following a routine inspection where a motorcycle with two individuals was told to halt on a side road on the Walahanduwa to Nugaduwa road last night. Following the Police Officers attempting to approach

A petition has been filed with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, highlighting the alleged violation of fundamental rights in the shooting of a fifteen-year-old minor by police officers in Thihagoda. The petitioner, Dhammika Malkanthi, seeks justice for her son, who sustained severe injuries during the incident. According to the petitioner, the incident occurred on

In a significant development regarding the Rambukkana shooting incident, multiple Fundamental Rights (FR) applications have been filed on behalf of the victims. The cases were brought before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, seeking justice and accountability for the tragic events that unfolded. The FR applications, numbered SC FR 73/2023, SC FR 74/2023, SC FR